--- gdal-1.2.6/configure.in.orig	2005-01-16 03:01:31.252567000 +0100
+++ gdal-1.2.6/configure.in	2005-01-16 03:09:32.131462448 +0100
@@ -1388,7 +1388,8 @@
 if test "$GEOS_CONFIG" != "no" ; then
 
   VERSION=`$GEOS_CONFIG --version`
-  if test "${VERSION:0:1}" -lt 2 ; then
+  MAJORVER=`echo $VERSION | cut -d . -f 1`
+  if test $MAJORVER -lt 2 ; then
     AC_MSG_ERROR([geos-config reports version $VERSION, need at least 2.0 or configure --without-geos])
   fi