3.0 KiB
pkgconf
pkgconf provides compiler and linker configuration for development frameworks.
general summary
pkgconf is a program which helps to configure compiler and linker flags for development frameworks.
It is similar to pkg-config, but was written from scratch in the summer of 2011 to replace pkg-config, which for a while needed itself to build itself (they have since included a 'stripped down copy of glib 2.0') Since then we have worked on improving pkg-config for embedded use.
usage
Implementations of pkg-config, such as pkgconf, are typically used with the PKG_CHECK_MODULES autoconf macro. As far as we know, pkgconf is compatible with all known variations of this macro. pkgconf detects at runtime whether or not it was started as 'pkg-config', and if so, attempts to set program options such that its behaviour is similar.
In terms of the autoconf macro, it is possible to specify the PKG_CONFIG environment variable, so that you can test pkgconf without overwriting your pkg-config binary. Some other build systems may also respect the PKG_CONFIG environment variable.
To set the enviornment variable on the bourne shell and clones (i.e. bash), you can run:
$ export PKG_CONFIG=/usr/bin/pkgconf
technical design (why pkgconf is better for distros)
pkgconf builds an acyclic directed dependency graph. This allows for the user to more conservatively link their binaries -- which may be helpful in some environments, such as when prelink(1) is being used. As a result of building a directed dependency graph designed for the specific problem domain provided by the user, more accurate dependencies can be determined. pkg-config, on the other hand builds a database of all known pkg-config files on the system before attempting to resolve dependencies, which is a considerably slower and less efficient design.
pkgconf also does not bundle any third-party libraries or depend on any third-party libraries, making it a great tool for embedded systems and distributions with security concerns.
compiling
pkgconf is basically compiled the same way any other autotools-based project is compiled:
$ ./configure
$ make
$ sudo make install
If you are installing pkgconf into a custom prefix, such as /opt/pkgconf, you will
likely want to define the default system includedir and libdir for your toolchain.
To do this, use the --with-system-includedir and --with-system-libdir configure
flags like so:
$ ./configure \
--prefix=/opt/pkgconf \
--with-system-libdir=/lib:/usr/lib \
--with-system-includedir=/usr/include
$ make
$ sudo make install
If you want pkgconf to be used when you invoke pkg-config, you should install a
symlink for this. We do not do this for you, as we believe it is better for vendors
to make this determination themselves.
$ ln -sf /usr/bin/pkgconf /usr/bin/pkg-config
release tarballs
Release tarballs are available at http://tortois.es/~nenolod/distfiles/.