xdt-autogen has such chunks: ## ## Check for autoheader, first trying autoheader-2.59, then autoheader-2.58, ## then autoheader-2.57, then autoheader-2.53, and finally simply autoheader. ## test -z "${XDT_PROG_AUTOHEADER}" && for configure_ac_file in $CONFIGURE_AC_FILES; do if $EGREP -q "^A(M|C)_CONFIG_HEADER" "${configure_ac_file}"; then for i in autoheader-2.61 autoheader-2.60 autoheader-2.59 autoheader-2.58 autoheader-2.57 autoheader-2.53 autoheader; do ## ## Check for autoconf, first trying autoconf-2.59, then autoconf-2.58, then ## autoconf-2.57, then autoconf-2.53, and finally simply autoconf. ## test -z "${XDT_PROG_AUTOCONF}" && for i in autoconf-2.61 autoconf-2.60 autoconf-2.59 autoconf-2.58 autoconf-2.57 autoconf-2.53 autoconf; do Which leads to build failures on the openbsd buildslave, since we have binaries for those names, and they're used first instead of obeying AUTOCONF_VERSION passed to autoconf (which is a wrapper script on openbsd). Cf http://buildbot.xfce.org/builders/exo-openbsd/builds/321/steps/configure/logs/stdio. aclocal 1.11 seems somehow 'linked' to autoconf 2.63 since it uses its macro files (i suppose it calls 'autoconf' which in my case obeys AUTOCONF_VERSION). All in all... i've workarounded the issue by setting the various XDT_PROG_* in the env to point at hardcoded auto* binaries, but imo xdt-autogen should look for other newer versions of autoconf/autoheader.
Created a nick/bug8683 branch, please check.
Works like a charm on the buildslave and on my desktop with various plugins (&various automake/autoconf versions) from git. Minor nit, the comment for autoheader still talks about versions: ## Check for autoheader, first trying autoheader-2.59, then autoheader-2.58, ## then autoheader-2.57, then autoheader-2.53, and finally simply autoheader.