gettext: -lintl vs libintl.a

[Dan Newcombe <Newcombe mordor clayton edu>]

Question:
  I have gnu gettext installed on both my Linux and HPUX system.  On the
HPUX system, everything builds fine, and it uses (without me telling it
--with-gettext-here in configure) the gettext in the intl directory (ie.
gnome-core/intl)

On my linux box at home, it does not, and EVERY program that uses any of
the gettext functions causes it to bomb in the compilation.  I then have
to add -lintl onto the LIBS line of the Makefile to get it to link.

So, my question is
	a) why does the HP default to not using the installed library
	b) why does the linux default to it
	c) how can I make my Linux box work one way or the other without
		having to edit Makefiles or remember configure parms.

Thanks!
	-Dan