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My machine has lua-5.1.4 installed (from source) but does not have lua.pc. What is the development package to download for lua 5.1.4?

I am new to this myself, so please bear with me while I explain what is 'lua.pc'. If you think some of the information here is incorrect, please make full use of the edit button.

lua.pc or any file with pc for an extension is a file that goes into either /usr/local/lib/pkgconfig/ or /usr/lib/pkgconfig directories. It is a text file containing different fields such as Description etc., information that is used by the make install process. The default installation of lua does not install the lua.pc file. That is because it is the 'normal' package. However, the development package contains this file. The development package creates additional dynamic links (for shared libraries etc.) that are needed during installation of other software where these shared libraries may be dependencies. For more information, read here and here.

Update: lua.pc is present in the etc/ folder within the source tarball.

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Sriram
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  • What is `lua.pc`? And what is a "development package?" – Nicol Bolas Sep 20 '11 at 10:37
  • @NicolBolas: I have tried to add some more information. Please take a look at it. The explanation is not perfect, and I myself have been introduced to these things today. – Sriram Sep 20 '11 at 10:59
  • Which distro are you using, and where/how did you obtain the Lua package? – tripleee Sep 20 '11 at 11:47
  • @tripleee: I am using `Fedora11` and obtained Lua package from the main website for Lua itself. Please see @jpjacobs answer. It seems that is correct. – Sriram Sep 20 '11 at 14:33

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The lua.pc is in the source tarbal, in the etc folder

jpjacobs
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  • aarrrrrghhh!! please allow me a moment while I kick myself! Copying `lua.pc` into `/usr/lib/pkgconfig/` does seem to work. But what is the difference between `/usr/lib/pkgconfig` and `/usr/local/lib/pkgconfig`? – Sriram Sep 20 '11 at 14:32
  • `/usr/` is normally maintained by the system tools (like apt in debian), while the (super)user is free to do whatever he wants with `/usr/local/`, without interference with normal system processes/ package tools. More info in the [Rute guide](http://rute.2038bug.com/node38.html.gz#SECTION003840000000000000000) – jpjacobs Sep 20 '11 at 14:46