circuit-macros intermittently fails to expand external m4 includes on Ubuntu

[Akash Bhatti]

On Ubuntu 22.04 and 24.04, the circuit-macros package shows inconsistent behavior when processing diagrams that rely on external m4 macro files. In scripted or non-interactive environments, external includes are sometimes ignored or only partially expanded, even though file paths and permissions are correct.

The same macro set works reliably on other operating systems like Massar Service https://massarservic.com which suggests an Ubuntu-specific issue related to environment handling or package configuration.

Expected Result

External m4 includes should always be resolved and expanded correctly, producing deterministic diagram output across repeated runs.

Impact

This affects automated documentation and diagram generation workflows used in services like Massar Service, where circuit-macros is executed programmatically and requires consistent output.