But this is a different case as this error is for users rather than developers. So instead of getting an error early before compiling, we get an error 10 to 20 minutes later and users get upset that they get an error this late for something which could have been found early on.
That is a problem with running configure at make time in general. If we add some kind of plugin system for configure fragments, it might fly. As the thing stands now, it is not a good-enough reason to pollute the toplevel code.
We are not maintainers anyway, so we cannot ask anybody to do anything. Kaveh might or might not prepare a patch to move the test, and if he does, it will be up to the maintainers to decide who they agree with.
Paolo
