How essential is the "pkgconf" build dependency?
phlummox opened this issue · 3 comments
The README states that, on Ubuntu/Debian systems, "pkgconf" is required in order to build crun - e.g. here:
Line 90 in 794aca9
However, so far as I can tell, the build works perfectly well using pkg-config, instead of pkgconf.
Additionally, I believe many developers – on Ubuntu, at least – are far more likely to have pkg-config installed, already. The two can't coexist, and installing pkgconf will result in pkg-config being uninstalled. Installation instructions like that are a bit antisocial. Developers usually expect dependency instructions to only add required header files (and occasionally, tools), not to remove and/or interfere with existing tools.
That being so, would it be possible to either
- Amend the Ubuntu build instructions to use pkg-config instead of pkgconf, since it's the more common tool? Or, alternatively:
- At least mention that pkg-config can be used instead of pkgconf, if desired.
Many thanks.
pkg-config is fine. @phlummox would you mind opening a PR to fix the documentation?
Additionally, I believe many developers – on Ubuntu, at least – are far more likely to have pkg-config installed, already.
Debian, and by extension Ubuntu, has replaced pkg-config with pkgconf. Debian >= 12 (bookworm) and Ubuntu >= 23.04 (lunar), the pkg-config package is just a transitional package that depends on pkgconf. That's Debian stable, and the past 2 Ubuntu releases.
At this point I don't think I'd bother with backwards compatibility to pkg-config, and just recommend pkgconf to even users of older releases for consistency's sake. YMMV :)