The only reason maintainer-clean typically has not removed files like
configure and Makefile.am is that they have been (until relatively
recently) version controlled.
That doesn't seem quite right to me. Makefile.am is typically
version-controlled and always has been; furthermore, configure is nearly
always a generated file and may or may not be version-controlled by design.
As far as I can see, the issue isn't version control of a given file but
whether a provided "maintainer tool" can reinstate it.
In general, I agree it would seem desirable for maintainer-clean to
delete everything which the package's bootstrap script (if any) can
recreate, now that bootstrap scripts are in common use. But we must
recognize that not all packages (I venture to say the vast majority, in
fact) use your particular fancy bootstrap script.
So it seems to me the rule shouldn't be "always delete configure and
Makefile.am", but rather "delete everything which is recreated by a
maintainer bootstrapping the package". If there is no bootstrap script
at all, the current definition of maintainer-clean would apply.
This could be implemented by options to automake/autoconf/gnulib-tool, I
guess. But I know I don't want maintainer-clean in Texinfo to go
deleting my Makefile.am's.
Karl
P.S. Ok, "bootstrap" isn't technically the right term for all this, but
you know what I mean :).
