Re: [Devel] freetype-config --version / pkg-config

[Owen Taylor]

On Sun, 2003-04-27 at 17:22, Antoine Leca wrote:
> Gustavo J. A. M. Carneiro wrote:
> >   I think I would prefer that freetype installed a .pc file, so we could
> > stop using freetype-config once and for all and use 'pkg-config
> > --modversion freetype' instead.
> 
> Sorry for the question from the neophyte/ignorant, but is pkg-config as
> portable and widely available as is the current tools.
> And as a particular point:
>   a) can we live without any pkg-config (i.e., can we build on a bare Unix
>    without any pkg-coinfig in sight)

Since freetype is a leaf-node in the dependency tree, there's no reason
it should need pkg-config to build. All freetype needs to do is to
install a .pc file in the correct place ($libdir/pkgconfig) so that
other programs can compile it.

You can keep shipping the freetype-config script to allow people to
build programs against freetype without pkg-config.

>   b) if not (a), can we ship the library without the pkg-config tool (and
>    directing people to the correct to download it)
>   c) if not (b), should we include pkg-config in the tree, with a particular
>    emphasis put upon the slight fact that last time I looked it, it was GPLed
>    (and need glib to build, but that is a lesser problem)

Actually, the pkg-config sources contains a copy of GLib (which it links
against statically.) Which makes the sources a bit big, but easy to 
compile.

But considering the answer to a) not really relevant.

Regards,
                                                 Owen