Changing the build-dep from 'automake' to 'automake1.9' solves the FTBS. Patch attached.
diff -Nru maxima-5.9.3.orig/debian/control maxima-5.9.3/debian/control --- maxima-5.9.3.orig/debian/control 2006-06-29 23:18:22.000000000 -0400 +++ maxima-5.9.3/debian/control 2006-06-29 23:18:51.000000000 -0400 @@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ Section: math Priority: optional Maintainer: Camm Maguire <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> -Build-Depends: gcl ( >= 2.6.7-15 ) , texinfo, libgmp3-dev, libreadline5-dev | libreadline-dev, locales, automake, debhelper ( >=4.1.0 ) , libncurses5-dev, autoconf2.13, gawk | awk, tetex-extra, sharutils +Build-Depends: gcl ( >= 2.6.7-15 ) , texinfo, libgmp3-dev, libreadline5-dev | libreadline-dev, locales, automake1.9, debhelper ( >=4.1.0 ) , libncurses5-dev, autoconf2.13, gawk | awk, tetex-extra, sharutils Standards-Version: 3.6.2 Package: maxima