should now work fr any ubuntu distributon

ax_init_standard_project.m4

@@ -696,3 +696,15 @@ AC_DEFUN([AX_CHECK_VALID_LD_FLAG], [
   AC_SUBST(LDFLAGS)
   AC_MSG_RESULT([$newflag in $LDFLAGS])
 ])
+
+# Check if a package exists in the current distribution, if yes, require it
+# in debian/control.in append @DEB_DEPEND_IFEXISTS@ to Build-Depends
+#  - parameter:
+#     $1 = package name
+AC_DEFUN([AX_DEB_DEPEND_IFEXISTS], [
+  pkg=$1
+  if test -n "$(apt-cache policy -q ${pkg} 2> /dev/null)"; then
+     DEB_DEPEND_IFEXISTS+=", ${pkg}"
+  fi
+  AC_SUBST(DEB_DEPEND_IFEXISTS)
+])

configure.ac

@@ -166,13 +166,7 @@ AC_SUBST(BOOST_THREAD_LIB)
 AM_CONDITIONAL(HAVE_BOOST_THREAD, test -n "$BOOST_THREAD_LIB")
 
 # special dependencies for specific distros
-DIST_BUILDDEPENDS=$(
-  case $(lsb_release -cs) in
-    (precise|lucid|wheezy|squeeze);;
-    (*) echo "libiberty-dev, ";;
-  esac
-)
-AC_SUBST(DIST_BUILDDEPENDS)
+AX_DEB_DEPEND_IFEXISTS(libiberty-dev)
 
 # thread options
 THREADS="-pthread -D_MT"

debian/control.in

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 Source: @PACKAGE_NAME@
 Priority: extra
 Maintainer: @AUTHOR@
-Build-Depends: debhelper, subversion, pkg-config, automake, libtool, autotools-dev, lsb-release , doxygen, graphviz, mscgen, libcppunit-dev, libz-dev, libiberty-dev | libiberty, binutils-dev
+Build-Depends: debhelper, subversion, pkg-config, automake, libtool, autotools-dev, lsb-release , doxygen, graphviz, mscgen, libcppunit-dev, libz-dev, binutils-dev @DEB_DEPEND_IFEXISTS@
 
 Package: @PACKAGE_NAME@
 Section: libs

resolve-debbuilddeps.sh

@@ -24,9 +24,17 @@ function install() {
     fi
 }
 
+TO_INSTALL=
+
 if test -e debian/control.in -a ! -e debian/control; then
-    sed 's,@[^@]*@, dummytext,g' debian/control.in > debian/control
+    for f in $(sed -n 's, *AX_DEB_DEPEND_IFEXISTS(\([^)]*\)).*,\1,p' configure.ac); do
+        if test -n "$(apt-cache policy -q ${f})" && ! dpkg -l "${f}"; then
+            TO_INSTALL+=" ${f}"
+        fi
+    done
     trap "rm debian/control" INT TERM EXIT
+    sed 's,@DEB_DEPEND_IFEXISTS@,,g' debian/control.in | \
+        sed 's,@[^@]*@, dummytext,g' > debian/control
 fi
 
 if test -n "${SCHROOTNAME}"; then
@@ -38,7 +46,6 @@ else
 fi
 DEPS=$(echo "$DEPS" | sed -n '/Unmet build dependencies/ { s,.*Unmet build dependencies: ,,g; s, ([^)]*),,g; s, *| *,|,g; p}')
 
-TO_INSTALL=
 for pa in ${DEPS}; do
     if test ${pa//|/} = ${pa}; then
         TO_INSTALL+=" ${pa}"