@INC = grep { $_ ne $curdir && $_ ne '.' } @INC;
mkdir('hints', 0777);
-my $hint_file = File::Spec->catfile('hints', "$^O.pl");
+(my $os = $^O) =~ s/\./_/g;
+my $hint_file = File::Spec->catfile('hints', "$os.pl");
+
open(HINT, ">$hint_file") || die "Can't write dummy hints file $hint_file: $!";
print HINT <<'CLOO';
$self->{CCFLAGS} = 'basset hounds got long ears';