Trying to update aspell, I got error about autoconf not working. Looking at the .tmp file with detailed error info the dependence to =autoconf-0.61 revealed. Reproducible: Always Steps to Reproduce: 1. Have aspell older than 0.60.5 2. update portage 3. emerge aspell (unmerge aspell-en first) Actual Results: autoconf error Expected Results: everything should be installed autoconf should be updated first before aspell.
Has nothing to do with portage.
Upgrade your system properly, using --deep.
This was fixed by a recent autotools.eclass update.