Re: *-config programs and multi-arch

[Tollef Fog Heen <tfheen@err.no>]

]] Miles Bader 

| I dunno, pkg-config is different, I think -- unlike a missing compiler
| or linker, a missing pkg-config often simply means "you can't use any
| libraries for which pkg-config is required", and missing libraries
| [etc] is an issue which configure scripts are often prepared.

You can use pkg-config for arch-independent data too.

| So the "pkg-config missing" => "fatal error" decision is really
| something that should be left left to the configure script, not embedded
| in the pkg-config autoconf macros.

Yup.

| However, the current state, where it pretends pkg-config is present,
| when it really isn't in a useful way, just fools the configure script
| into doing the wrong thing.


[...]

| AFAICT, the easiest way to handle all this is just to make a missing
| cross-pkg-config look like a missing pkg-config to the configure
| script.  Then whatever logic the script may have for detecting the
| "not pkg-config at all" case, will do the right thing for the cross
| case too.

Sounds like AC_PATH_TOOL should do this when you're cross-compiling,
then.  Maybe.

-- 
Tollef Fog Heen
UNIX is user friendly, it's just picky about who its friends are