automake 1.5 should be enough

echo "buildconf: autoheader version $ah_version (ok)"

#--------------------------------------------------------------------------

# automake 1.6 or newer

# automake 1.5 or newer

#

am_version=`${AUTOMAKE:-automake} --version 2>/dev/null|head -1| sed -e 's/^[^0-9]*//' -e 's/[a-z]* *$//'`

if test -z "$am_version"; then

  echo "buildconf: automake not found."

  echo "            You need automake version 1.6 or newer installed."

  echo "            You need automake version 1.5 or newer installed."

  exit 1

fi

IFS=.; set $am_version; IFS=' '

if test "$1" = "1" -a "$2" -lt "6" || test "$1" -lt "1"; then

if test "$1" = "1" -a "$2" -lt "5" || test "$1" -lt "1"; then

  echo "buildconf: automake version $am_version found."

  echo "            You need automake version 1.6 or newer installed."

  echo "            You need automake version 1.5 or newer installed."

  echo "            If you have a sufficient automake installed, but it"

  echo "            is not named 'autommake', then try setting the"

  echo "            AUTOMAKE environment variable."