How to build dosemu?

  I'm a longtime but relatively light user of dosemu with a simple 
question.  What's the easiest way to set up a current linux distribution 
to compile dosemu?

I've struggle to make it compile on Ubuntu (which I like) for years, but 
haven't had any success with the last couple versions.  If anyone can 
either tell me how to compile on ubuntu 10.10, or what distro to switch 
to (and what I'd need to install on that distroy) I'll be very grateful.

If anyone is curious about why I want to build it myself - I use dosemu 
mainly in order to run wordperfect 6.2 for dos, and have written a few 
lines of custom code to add additional text modes appropriate for modern 
monitors.  My customizations, although only involving a few lines of 
code, are important to me.

thanks,

John