[bug#81040] [PATCH] dist: introduce AM_OPTIONAL_AUTOMAKE for best-effort dist-XXX archives.

Hi Jacob,

    If I remember correctly, on some systems, the /bin/sh shell does not 
    have command(1) as a builtin, but a "command" executable exists on the 
    filesystem.

Good memory :). Indeed, this is the case on Solaris 10, at least the one
on cfarm.

cfarm210$ type command
command is hashed (/usr/bin/command)

Either a command or builtin should be fine for Kamila's purposes.

    As long as `make dist-XYZ` will always either produce the "XYZ" dist
    or fail, we probably do not need to worry about this edge case.

I agree. --thanks, karl.