>>It has been suggested that it would be handy if the build tree could
>>check that the make being used is up to the job and bail imediately if
>>not.  Sounds like a good idea.  However I'm not convinced as to the
>>right way to do it.

>Doesn't that really belong in sys.mk since you might be using both features
>that are in the make program itself and in the .mk files?

Which bit?  Sys.mk is part of the build tree and the build process ensures that the right 
macros are used.  One could put the checks in sys.mk - but MAKE_VERSION really needs 
to originate within make(1).

Perhaps

MAKE_VERSION=20001215.netbsd

then one can use ${MAKE_VERSION:R} to get the "version" and :E to get the "vendor"?

--sjg