Autoconf 2.59d (released in 2006) [1] started promoting several macros
as not relevant for newer systems, including the `AC_C_CONST`.
The `const` keyword is used in C since C89. On old systems some compilers
lacked the `const` and this macro defined it to be empty. This check was
relevant on systems with compilers before C89 and on current systems it
can be omitted. [2]
PHP also requires at least C89 so `const` is always available.