From what I hear, cmake porting isn't too hard once you get used to it. I will be helping with this once I get my new hard disk (which I will be ordering on Thursday).
As I understand it (someone correct me if I'm wrong), there is too much risk of the autotools api changing again, which is what broke building to begin with, so rather than having to worry about fixing the headers with each new version of autotools, it'd be much easier to just use cmake. I've also heard that a project that is correctly setup for cmake can be easier to work with when doing the actual build than when trying to build with autotools.
Not to mention the time required for building the following packages:
kdelibs: with Automake: 50 minutes with CMake: 7 minutes
kdebase: with Automake: 60 minutes with CMake: 10 minutes
See a distinct advantage there? ;-) This would greatly help when fixing bugs or adding new features.
Also, from what I can see, the core Trinity modules are almost ported to CMake. I am working through the Debian/Ubuntu build glitches now, and will have a better handle on the current status of things as my builds progress.
Don't give up yet!
Tim