So the problem remains : if you put /bin first in your PATH, you'll have configure discover 'gzip' in /bin (which is the right thing) and 'pager' in /bin (which is the wrong thing), and if you put /usr/bin first you'll have the same problem the other way around. I see that I misunderstood the inital problem. I.e. it isn't becuase /bin/pager is wrong (it is correct infact), but because of the seperation of /usr/bin and /bin on Debian GNU/Hurd. Oh well...