pkg-config:tldr:459a5

pkg-config: Get the list of libraries, their dependencies, and proper cflags for gcc.

pkg-config

$ pkg-config --cflags --libs ${library1 library2 ---}

try on your machine

The command pkg-config is used to retrieve information about installed libraries in a Unix-like environment. It is typically used during compilation or linking of software programs to obtain the necessary flags and libraries required for successful compilation.

In the specific command you shared:

pkg-config - This is the command itself, indicating that we are using pkg-config for library information retrieval.

--cflags - This flag instructs pkg-config to output the required C compiler flags for the specified libraries.

--libs - This flag tells pkg-config to output the required linker flags for the specified libraries.

${library1 library2 ---} - Here, ${library1 library2 ---} is a placeholder for the names of one or multiple libraries that you want to retrieve information for using pkg-config. You need to replace this placeholder with the actual library names. For example, if you want to retrieve information for two libraries named libfoo and libbar, you would write ${libfoo libbar}.

So, when you execute the command with the appropriate library names, it will output the necessary flags and libraries required to compile and link against the specified libraries in your software program.

This explanation was created by an AI. In most cases those are correct. But please always be careful and never run a command you are not sure if it is safe.

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