Comment 14 for bug 374191

cpb@tiny:~/src/lp/libecbufr-trunk$ sh reconf
...
configure.in:70: required file `./config.guess' not found
configure.in:70: `automake --add-missing' can install `config.guess'
configure.in:70: required file `./config.sub' not found
configure.in:70: `automake --add-missing' can install `config.sub'
...
autoreconf: automake failed with exit status: 1
*** Done. You may now run configure
cpb@tiny:~/src/lp/libecbufr-trunk$ ./configure
checking for a BSD-compatible install... /usr/bin/install -c
...
checking whether make sets $(MAKE)... (cached) yes
configure: error: cannot run /bin/bash ./config.sub
cpb@tiny:~/src/lp/libecbufr-trunk$

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Now, this _is_ a jaunty-to-karmic upgraded system, so that might be a factor.