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BEFORE YOU LINK TO: Using the pkg-config macro PKG_CHECK_MODULES failing

this does not solve my solution. i do have pkg-config installed. when i type aclocal --print, the first thing it gives is main::scan_file() called too early to check prototype at /usr/local/bin/aclocal line 618. it does that too in ./bootstrap. then it gives the directory /usr/local/share/aclocal

for one or another reason, the macro still doesnt work. i am on Artix linux (an Arch like distro), with automake 1.16.2-3 and pkg-conf 1.7.3-1. the output of ./configure, config.log and ./bootstrap are: https://pastebin.com/NY1GgtFF (configure), https://pastebin.com/iDAUXRv3 (config.log) and https://pastebin.com/aRVw00Ex (bootstrap)

the macro expansion fails no matter what. do you have any ideas? how would i set the m4_pattern_allow flag? this error occurs both at openbox, and lxterminal. i havent tried any other programs yet where i encounter this error, but i dont think it matters at which program it happens

i really hope i provided enough information, this is my first post, so i hope i did everything right

dcode
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  • So I suppose you are trying to build openbox, but which version or repository? – Ian Abbott Jun 30 '20 at 13:39
  • @IanAbbott i am cloning https://github.com/danakj/openbox – dcode Jun 30 '20 at 13:58
  • All your autoconf/automake stuff is installed under /usr/local. Did you build them yourself? Surely Artix Linux has packages for that sort of stuff? – Ian Abbott Jun 30 '20 at 14:14
  • @IanAbbott no, its all from the repos from artix. – dcode Jun 30 '20 at 14:23
  • I'm just wondering why it's in /usr/local instead of /usr. I've not used Arch for a long while, but surely it hasn't drifted from Linux Standard Base specifications that much. – Ian Abbott Jun 30 '20 at 14:30
  • @IanAbbott i tried installing them all from source, but i couldn't get m4 installed from source. i also mirrored aclocal in /usr/share and that didn't change anything – dcode Jun 30 '20 at 15:06
  • @dcode, no one is suggesting that you install the AutoTools from source. Quite the opposite, in fact. But if you *didn't* install them from source, then it is surprising that the binaries being used are in `/usr/local`. Do you maybe have some of the results of install-from-source attempts still hanging around there? If so, then that could be part of the problem. – John Bollinger Jun 30 '20 at 19:57
  • Does /usr/local/share/aclocal/pkg.m4 exist? If not, where is `pkg.m4`? – William Pursell Jun 30 '20 at 20:49
  • @JohnBollinger i know, but it gave me the idea, to verify if it was the fault of the way artix compiles the packages. turns out i had pkg-conf, and not pkg-config, very subitle difference. when i installed it form source, it did go to /usr. i switched to void in the mean time, and everything's working like a charm. it is in the usual location, and included with openbox. – dcode Jul 02 '20 at 10:09

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pkg-conf is not the same as pkg-config — the former is a low-deps reimplementation and does not come with the pkg.m4 file you need to have the macro installed.

If the software you're trying to build comes with a copy of pkg.m4 bundled in the repository and/or tarball, you may just need to add -I m4 to the invocation of aclocal, otherwise you need to fetch the pkg.m4 file from a pkg-config distribution.

Diego Elio Pettenò
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  • thanks, i switched to void linux, but the -I m4 was exactly what i needed, because it was bundled! – dcode Jul 02 '20 at 10:08