I use bash on hpux, which sets HOSTTYPE. This is why arch-type script
works for me.
My sys admin helper uses csh. He tried to do make install. It
failed, because HOSTTYPE is not set. uname -p says "unknown". The
build directory 'build-HP-UX-hppa1.1' is not found, and make install
goes into an endless loop.
While we're on the subject, that really should include the major OS
revision number. Maybe we should use the GNU config.guess?
