getdate fails to build

[Sam Steingold]

/bin/bash /home/sds/src/clisp/current/build-g//build-aux/ylwrap 
/home/sds/src/clisp/current/modules/syscalls/gllib/getdate.y \
                                      y.tab.c getdate.c \
                                      y.tab.h getdate.h \
                                      y.output getdate.output \
                                      -- byacc   && \
        mv getdate.c getdate.c-t && \
        mv getdate.c-t 
/home/sds/src/clisp/current/modules/syscalls/gllib/getdate.c
byacc: e - line 277 of 
"/home/sds/src/clisp/current/modules/syscalls/gllib/getdate.y", syntax error
%pure-parser
^
make[2]: *** [getdate.c] Error 1

why is getdate built at all on the latest ubuntu?
isn't glibc enough there?!

thanks
Sam