(In reply to comment #0)
> dce-linux build fails when lidb4.8-dev is missing on the build system; should
> this be checked (presence of file db_185.h)?

I've created the following patch to handle this issue.
Under changeset: 163:c3442238b27c of bake, even though I have db_185.h or libdb4.8-dev in my machine, the following error raised during 'bake download'.

% ../bake.py download -o libdb-dev     
/home/tazaki/hgworks/ns-3-dce-thehajime/bake/bake/ModuleSource.py:15: DeprecationWarning: the sets module is deprecated
  from sets import Set
>>> Old Python version detected, please install a newer one (above 2.7.0)
 >> Downloading libdb-dev
 >> Download libdb-dev - Problem
    Self installation problem for module: "libdb-dev", 
    Probably either you need super user rights to install the packet,or that the module is not present on your package management databases.
    Try calling bake with the --sudo option and/or review your library database to add "libdb4.8-dev"
    More information from the module: "Didn't find libdb-dev package; please install it."

--sudo option passed without these message.

Do we have to use the root right even if we've already have the packages ?
Does the 'dependency_test' attribute work as expected ?

diff --git a/bakeconf.xml b/bakeconf.xml
--- a/bakeconf.xml
+++ b/bakeconf.xml
@@ -60,10 +60,48 @@
       </build>
      </module>

+    <module name="libdb-dev">
+      <source type="system_dependency">
+        <attribute name="dependency_test" value="db_185.h"/>
+        <attribute name="try_to_install" value="True"/>
+        <attribute name="name_apt-get" value="libdb4.8-dev"/>
+        <attribute name="name_yum" value="libdb-devel"/>
+        <attribute name="more_information" value="Didn't find libdb-dev package; please install it."/>
+      </source>
+      <build type="none" objdir="no">
+      </build>
+    </module>
+
+    <module name="bison">
+      <source type="system_dependency">
+        <attribute name="try_to_install" value="True"/>
+        <attribute name="name_apt-get" value="bison"/>
+        <attribute name="name_yum" value="bison"/>
+        <attribute name="more_information" value="The bison tool is not installed, try to install them (bison)"/>
+      </source>
+      <build type="none" objdir="no">
+      </build>
+    </module>
+
+    <module name="flex">
+      <source type="system_dependency">
+        <attribute name="try_to_install" value="True"/>
+        <attribute name="sudoer_install" value="True"/>
+        <attribute name="name_apt-get" value="flex"/>
+        <attribute name="name_yum" value="flex"/>
+        <attribute name="more_information" value="The flex tool is not installed, try to install them (flex)"/>
+      </source>
+      <build type="none" objdir="no">
+      </build>
+    </module>
+
      <module name="iproute">
       <source type="archive">
        <attribute name="url" value="http://www.linuxgrill.com/anonymous/iproute2/NEW-OSDL/iproute2-2.6.38.tar.bz2"/>
       </source>
+      <depends_on name="libdb-dev" optional="False"/>
+      <depends_on name="bison" optional="False"/>
+      <depends_on name="flex" optional="False"/>
       <build type="make" objdir="yes">
        <attribute name="pre_installation" value="$SRCDIR/configure"/>
        <attribute name="LDFLAGS" value="-pie"/>

changeset 166	383536a8c68f tries to fix this issue.