do it right: it is not DEFINES, but AM_CFLAGS

client_examples/Makefile.am

-DEFINES=-I.. -g -Wall
+AM_CFLAGS=-I.. -g -Wall
 LDADD = ../libvncclient/libvncclient.a @WSOCKLIB@
 
 if WITH_FFMPEG

examples/Makefile.am

-DEFINES=-I.. -g -Wall
+AM_CFLAGS=-I.. -g -Wall
 LDADD = ../libvncserver/libvncserver.a @WSOCKLIB@
 
 if OSX

libvncclient/Makefile.am

-DEFINES=-g -I.. -I. -Wall
+AM_CFLAGS=-g -I.. -I. -Wall
 
 libvncclient_a_SOURCES=cursor.c listen.c rfbproto.c sockets.c vncviewer.c
 

libvncserver/tightvnc-filetransfer/Makefile.am

-DEFINES=-g -Wall
+AM_CFLAGS=-g -Wall
 
 includedir=$(prefix)/include/rfb
 

test/Makefile.am

-DEFINES=-I.. -g -Wall
+AM_CFLAGS=-I.. -g -Wall
 LDADD = ../libvncserver/libvncserver.a ../libvncclient/libvncclient.a @WSOCKLIB@
 
 if HAVE_LIBPTHREAD