diff -r 064cc252344c doc/faq/Makefile.am
--- a/doc/faq/Makefile.am	Mon Mar 22 14:58:39 2010 +0000
+++ b/doc/faq/Makefile.am	Mon Mar 22 14:58:37 2010 -0400
@@ -7,6 +7,8 @@
 
 docs: $(doc_DATA) $(html_DATA)
 
+.PHONY:  docs-prepare clean-docs
+
 distclean-local: clean-docs
 
 docs-prepare: $(srcdir)/faq.sgml
@@ -26,37 +28,17 @@
 	fi
 
 if HAVE_SGMLTOOLS
-faq.html: faq.sgml
-	@$(MAKE) docs-prepare
+faq.html: docs-prepare faq.sgml
 	$(SGMLTOOLS) -b onehtml faq.sgml;
 else
 faq.html: faq.sgml
-	@$(MAKE) docs-prepare
-	if test x"$(fail_if_missing)" = x"yes"; then \
-	  echo "Please install sgmltools-lite."; \
-	  exit 1; \
-	fi
-	if test x"$(fail_if_missing)" != x"yes"; then \
-	  touch $@; \
-	  sleep 1; \
-	  touch $(notdir $^); \
-	fi
+	  touch $@; 
 endif
 
+faq.txt: docs-prepare faq.sgml
 if HAVE_SGMLTOOLS
-faq.txt: faq.sgml
-	@$(MAKE) docs-prepare
 	$(SGMLTOOLS) -b txt faq.sgml;
 else
 faq.txt: faq.sgml
-	@$(MAKE) docs-prepare
-	if test x"$(fail_if_missing)" = x"yes"; then \
-	  echo "Please install sgmltools-lite."; \
-	  exit 1; \
-	fi
-	if test x"$(fail_if_missing)" != x"yes"; then \
-	  touch $@; \
-	  sleep 1; \
-	  touch $(notdir $^); \
-	fi
+	  touch $@; 
 endif
diff -r 064cc252344c doc/hackersguide/Makefile.am
--- a/doc/hackersguide/Makefile.am	Mon Mar 22 14:58:39 2010 +0000
+++ b/doc/hackersguide/Makefile.am	Mon Mar 22 14:58:37 2010 -0400
@@ -22,6 +22,8 @@
 
 docs: $(hackersguide_DATA)
 
+.PHONY: clean-docs docs-prepare 
+
 distclean-local: clean-docs
 
 docs-prepare: $(addprefix $(srcdir)/, $(hackersguide_sgml))
@@ -43,35 +45,16 @@
 	fi
 
 if HAVE_SGMLTOOLS
-hackersguide.html: $(hackersguide_sgml)
-	@$(MAKE) docs-prepare
+hackersguide.html: $(hackersguide_sgml) docs-prepare
 	$(SGMLTOOLS) -b onehtml hackersguide.sgml;
 else
 hackersguide.html: $(hackersguide_sgml)
-	@$(MAKE) docs-prepare
-	if test x"$(fail_if_missing)" = x"yes"; then \
-	  echo "Please install sgmltools-lite."; \
-	  exit 1; \
-	fi
-	if test x"$(fail_if_missing)" != x"yes"; then \
-	  touch $@; \
-	  sleep 1; \
-	  touch $(notdir $^); \
-	fi
+	  touch $@; 
 endif
 
+.fig.png:
 if HAVE_FIG2DEV
-%.png: %.fig
 	$(FIG2DEV) -L png -S 4 $< $@;
 else
-%.png: %.fig
-	if test x"$(fail_if_missing)" = x"yes"; then \
-	  echo "Please install fig2dev."; \
-	  exit 1; \
-	fi
-	if test x"$(fail_if_missing)" != x"yes"; then \
-	  touch $@; \
-	  sleep 1; \
-	  touch $(notdir $^); \
-	fi
+	touch $@;
 endif