Using mod_python Berkeley DB XML, XmlManager, with MacOSX Tiger/Leopard/SnowLeopard (again)

Folks
Last March there was a thread on the problems of getting mod_python  
running with Apache in Mac OSX, with a very thorough discussion by  
Graham Dumpleton a.o. on how to make it work.  (see http://www.modpython.org/pipermail/mod_python/2008-March/024955.html 
  ; also
http://www.modpython.org/pipermail/mod_python/2007-October/ 
024376.html).  This discussion should have solved the issue forever.   
Alas, it has not .. for me anyway.
In trying to run mod_python with Berkeley DB XML, in the mod_wsgi  
incarnation, an older problem has resurfaced.  This is to do with  
Apache locking up when python tries to access the key XmlManager class  
in bdbxml. A discussion on this list http://www.modpython.org/pipermail/mod_python/2007-April/023445.html 
  , under the topic Global Interpreter Lock problem with Berkeley DB  
XML and mod_python, dealt with this.  Graham (again) suggested two  
fixes:
1. recompile bdbxml with the compiler option -DSWIG_PYTHON_NO_USE_GIL
2.  reinstall the python bindings, editing dbxml/dist/s_swig so that '- 
threads' isn't in swig_args for Python
I tried the second, and this changed nothing.  I cannot figure out how  
to do the first (sh buildall.sh  --with-berkeleydb-conf=- 
DSWIG_PYTHON_NO_USE_GIL
and sh buildall.sh  --with-dbxml-conf=-DSWIG_PYTHON_NO_USE_GIL fail)...
so help would be really helpful!
I am trying to do this on SnowLeopard.
Peter
Peter Robinson
Institute for Textual Scholarship and Electronic Editing
Elmfield House, Selly Oak  Campus
University of Birmingham
Edgbaston B29 6LG
[email protected]
p. +44 (0)121 4158441, f. +44 (0) 121 415 8376
www.itsee.bham.ac.uk