make bombing: cygwin build of binutils

[John Reed <jreed at hp dot com>]

binutils configuration built the Makefile, and it's bombing out
on something that seems pretty simple and should work:

Here's the Makefile code in question:

BISON = `if [ -f $$r/bison/bison ] ; then \
            echo $$r/bison/bison -L $$s/bison/ ; \     <- line 144
         else \
            echo bison ; \
         fi`

The error generated is:

Makefile:144: *** commands commence before first target.  Stop.

Note that the TAB character is the 1st character on each of the
4 lines following BISON.

I'm using GNU Make version 3.77, along with bash version
2.03.0(2)-release (i686-pc-cygwin).  I've copied bash to sh, so
they are equivalent.

Just for the fun of it, I changed the Makefile code in order
to get rid of the TAB characters:

BISON = `if [ -f $$r/bison/bison ] ; then \
  echo $$r/bison/bison -L $$s/bison/ ; \
 else \
  echo bison ; \
 fi`

For this trial, I got a different error message:

Makefile:144: *** missing separator.  Stop.


Any ideas??  I'm pulling my hair out (what little is left)
over this one, and would appreciate a kindly helping hand.

Respond to the mailing list, or to jreed@hp.com

For a correct answer to this problem, I promise to bow down
on my knees and perform 20 "I'm not worthy" praises!!!



JR