Re: HELP: Compiling GTK+ Applications on UNIX

[Sven Neumann <sven gimp org>]

Hi,

Paul Davis <pbd Op Net> writes:

> >What is the different between these 2 methods:
> >
> >1. gcc -o myprog `gtk-config --cflags --libs` (GTK FAQ)
> >
> >2. cc `pkg-config --cflags --libs gtk+-2.0` myprog.c -o mypgrog  (GTK+
> >Reference Manual)

as was already stated, the first is the 1.2 way, the second for 2.0.

> the first one is deprecated, involves lots of ugly m4 macros, can
> require disgusting filesystem hacking to deal with aclocal's stupid
> design, and is basically in poor taste.

that's nonsense. gtk-config is a simple bash script and no m4 macros
are involved. You are probably confusing this with the AM_PATH_GTK()
aclocal macro. That macro offers much more functionality than using
gtk-config directly and adds additional checks (like consistency of
headers and library). I'd stronly recommened its use.

GTK+-2.0 has a similar macro AM_PATH_GTK_2_0() and pkg-config also
installs a nice autoconf macro called PKG_CHECK_MODULES(). Read 
about it in the pkg-config manpage.

I agree that aclocal is poorly designed and it should really honor
the ACLOCAL_FLAGS environment variable directly instead of relying
on hacks in autogen.sh and configure.in. However you shouldn't need
to hack your filesystem to make aclocal and autoconf happy.


Salut, Sven