./configure is halting even though I installed every dependency. What is wrong?

A common problem is that you installed the binary packages for Octave but not the packages needed to link against Octave. So you'll need to look for development packages, usually named 'octave-headers' or 'octave-dev' or similar.

This is what the configure script is written to say when it cannot link against Octave, but linking problems can also mean that configure script isn't understanding your environment correctly. If you suspect there is a problem with the configure script, file a bug report and attach the config.log file.