[m4] The source code has been broken for years

[Michael Witten]

It appears that for years, m4's source code has been broken;
Bruno Haible reported this earlir in the year.

  * The last commit to the git repo was this:

      commit d69fa5284851b2b7aac25ffac638b6b379994db5
      AuthorDate: Sat Dec 31 14:56:15 2016 -0600
      CommitDate: Mon Jan 9 13:55:30 2017 -0600

  * The './bootstrap' script fails while setting up 'gnulib'.

  * Distros seem to use the last-released tarball:

      https://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/m4/m4-1.4.18.tar.gz
      https://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/m4/m4-1.4.18.tar.bz2
      https://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/m4/m4-1.4.18.tar.xz

  * However, the build breaks, and requires this following
    patch, which is passed around the Internet like a
    sacred talisman; here is a link to Arch Linux's copy:

      
https://github.com/archlinux/svntogit-packages/blob/packages/m4/trunk/m4-1.4.18-glibc-change-work-around.patch

So, you know, does anyone with knowledge want to update this core component?

Sincerely,
Michael Witten