Re: pkg-config required on OSX, why?

[Paul Eggert]

Jan D. wrote:
> having pkg-config as a requirement form some macros must mean those
> macros are important.  What are they?

Among other things, the macros test whether pkg-config is present, and 
they do the right thing when pkg-config is absent.  One needs the macros 
only to run 'autoconf' etc., not to run 'configure'.

It does strike me, though, that this new requirement to have pkg-config 
installed (and in the same place that automake is installed) is a pain. 
 I ran afoul of it myself not five minutes ago, since I use my own 
automake.  I'm inclined to have us copy pkg.m4 into m4, using a new tool 
(admin/merge-pkg-config, say).  That way, someone can periodically 
upgrade to the latest pkg.m4 manually, and the rest of us won't have to 
worry about having pkg-config installed correctly.