pkg-config
Ranked 14 of 17 build systems by recommenders
People recommend it for generating compiler and linker flags for installed libraries, which simplifies adding C libraries to projects and Makefiles. One critic says it is comparing apples to oranges.
People recommend it for generating compiler and linker flags for installed libraries, which simplifies adding C libraries to projects and Makefiles. One critic says it is comparing apples to oranges.
8 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 7
- criticize it
- 1
- approval share
- 88%
Recommended in 6 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 7 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 7 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 6 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Generates library compile and link flags
“Especially with tools like pkg-config that let you generate the set of flags for a package.”
Comment from 8 May 2026 in “Maybe you shouldn't install new software for a bit” “I never found it hard to add a C library to my projects using pkg-config.”
Comment from 1 Nov 2025 in “Hard Rust requirements from May onward” Simplifies library handling in Makefiles
“Especially with tools like pkg-config that let you generate the set of flags for a package.”
Comment from 8 May 2026 in “Maybe you shouldn't install new software for a bit” “you can add a bit of syntactic sugar to your Makefile and have that mostly handled for you”
Comment from 25 Nov 2025 in “APT Rust requirement raises questions”
Other build systems people recommend
The four most recommended other build systems, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bazel | 79 | 41 | 66% | 12 | 3 yrs3 owners | — |
| GNU Make | 76 | 42 | 64% | 12 | — | — |
| CMake | 58 | 93 | 38% | 12 | — | — |
| Apache Maven | 44 | 42 | 51% | 12 | — | — |
| pkg-configThis page | 7 | 1 | 88% | 6 | — | — |
What people said
6 of the 8 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“Especially with tools like pkg-config that let you generate the set of flags for a package.”
“autotools and pkgconfig is fine.”
“It's incredibly convenient.”
“pkg-config is comparing apples to oranges”
“you can add a bit of syntactic sugar to your Makefile and have that mostly handled for you”
“I never found it hard to add a C library to my projects using pkg-config.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.