Don't run "ranlib" if sysconfig's RANLIB (from Python's Makefile) starts

with ":".

Lib/distutils/unixccompiler.py

@@ -158,11 +158,13 @@ class UnixCCompiler (CCompiler):
                          output_filename] +
                         objects + self.objects)
 
-            # Not many Unices required ranlib anymore -- SunOS 4.x is,
-            # I think the only major Unix that does.  Probably should
-            # have some platform intelligence here to skip ranlib if
-            # it's not needed.
-            self.spawn ([self.ranlib, output_filename])
+            # Not many Unices required ranlib anymore -- SunOS 4.x is, I
+            # think the only major Unix that does.  Maybe we need some
+            # platform intelligence here to skip ranlib if it's not
+            # needed -- or maybe Python's configure script took care of
+            # it for us, hence the check for leading colon.
+            if self.ranlib[0] != ':':
+                self.spawn ([self.ranlib, output_filename])
         else:
             self.announce ("skipping %s (up-to-date)" % output_filename)