Not really sure what this was for, but this hack has always been there
in some form since the macro was introduced. It doesn't seem necessary
now, certainly.
### exception to the GPL to apply to your modified version as well.
# serial 1
-AC_DEFUN([mdw_AUTO_VERSION], [nobody cares...])
-m4_define([mdw_AUTO_VERSION], [m4_define([AUTO_VERSION], m4_esyscmd([
+AC_DEFUN([mdw_AUTO_VERSION], [m4_define([AUTO_VERSION], m4_esyscmd([
ver=UNKNOWN
for pre in ./ config/; do
for post in "" .in; do