According to the m4 macro source, --without-pthreads
has the exactly same meaning as --with-pthreads:
Here is the source:
AC_ARG_WITH(pthreads, [ --with-pthreads
include pthreads support],
AC_SEARCH_LIBS(pthread_key_create,pthread,
[AC_DEFINE(HAVE_THREADING,,[define if threading
is enabled])
AC_DEFINE(USE_PTHREADS,,[define if pthread
library is available])
AC_DEFINE(_PTHREADS,,[define for STL if
pthread library is used])],
AC_MSG_ERROR([pthreads not found])))
])
According to the autoconf documentation, third argument
will be executed whichever --with-pthreads or --
without-pthreads is given, and, so, ptheads may be
disabled only if both options are omitted from the
command line.