Debian Bug report logs - #884798
lintian could complain about pkg-config uses that fail to use $ac_tool_prefix

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Message #5 received at submit@bugs.debian.org (full text, mbox, reply):

From: Helmut Grohne <helmut@subdivi.de>

To: Debian Bug Tracking System <submit@bugs.debian.org>

Subject: lintian could complain about pkg-config uses that fail to use $ac_tool_prefix

Date: Tue, 19 Dec 2017 20:56:20 +0100

Package: lintian
Severity: wishlist
User: helmutg@debian.org
Usertags: rebootstrap

Hi lintian developers,

I would like to discuss a potentially new tag. If this makes sense, I'd
hope that someone can turn it into code. If not, please close as
wontfix.

After sending like 1000 cross build patches, I can tell that wrong use
of pkg-config in autotools projects is common and poses a significant
fraction of said patches. The common theme is some upstream is using

    AC_PATH_PROG(PKG_CONFIG, pkg-config, no)

or some variant of it in its configure.ac or configure.in. This causes
PKG_CONFIG to be initialized to pkg-config. A later PKG_CHECK_MODULES
will pick up this value rather than ${ac_tool_prefix}pkg-config. Using
the wrong pkg-config typically results in cross builds failing to find
.pc files. This is common.

A slightly better way would be using AC_PATH_TOOL (with the same
arguments) and the only difference here is considering $ac_tool_prefix.
The recommended way is using the PKG_PROG_PKG_CONFIG macro from
pkg-config tough. This macro will result in an empty PKG_CONFIG variable
if pkg-config happens to not be found rather than the "no" value
depicted above.

Some configure.ac and configure.in use plain pkg-config directly and
this tends to be broken as well. The immediate fix often is inserting
soe PKG_PROG_PKG_CONFIG and then using $PKG_CONFIG rather than
pkg-config.

Of course this is an upstream-only tag, and
https://codesearch.debian.net/search?q=AC_PATH_PROG.*pkg-config
shows just how common it is. Would this be suitable for a lintian tag?

If yes, what would be a good check? Should it just check the toplevel
configure.ac and configure.in or any file found on any directory level?
Should it just complain about the typical

    AC_PATH_PROG\s*\(\s*\[?\s*\S*\s*\]?\s*[A-Z_]+\s*\[?\s*pkg-config\s*[,)]

or rather simply flag any use of pkg-config? The latter would cover the
correct but not very idiomatic

    AC_PATH_TOOL(PKG_CONFIG, pkg-config, no)

as well. Potentially flagging

    (\$\(|`)pkg-config

may help to catch the hard coded variants. I haven't performed a whole
archive-analysis yet, so I cannot tell about the amount of fpos to be
expected.

Let me also help draft a tag description:

    The package uses AC_PATH_PROG to discover pkg-config. This macro
    fails to select the correct pkg-config for cross compilation. A
    better macro for discovering pkg-config is PKG_PROG_PKG_CONFIG from
    pkg.m4.

And for the other case maybe:

    The package directly invokes pkg-config without considering an
    architecture prefix ($ac_tool_prefix) for cross compilation. A
    better way would be discovering the correct pkg-config using
    PKG_PROG_PKG_CONFIG from pkg.m4 and then using the shell variable
    $PKG_CONFIG.

These are up for your improvements of course.

Looking forward to your feedback.

Helmut

Message #10 received at 884798@bugs.debian.org (full text, mbox, reply):

From: Chris Lamb <lamby@debian.org>

To: Helmut Grohne <helmut@subdivi.de>, 884798@bugs.debian.org

Subject: Re: Bug#884798: lintian could complain about pkg-config uses that fail to use $ac_tool_prefix

Date: Wed, 20 Dec 2017 22:45:04 +0000

Hi Helmut,

> If yes, what would be a good check? Should it just check the toplevel
> configure.ac and configure.in or any file found on any directory level?

This is my primary concern — warning about broken configure.{am,in} in
code copies etc. that are not used would just be annoying.

It might be safe to simply check ./configure.{am,in} or perhaps a
hardcoded list of subdirs such as src/configure.{am,in}. What do you
think?

> I haven't performed a whole archive-analysis yet, so I cannot tell
> about the amount of fpos to be expected.

Would this be easy for you to do? Please go ahead if so and let us know.


Best wishes,

-- 
      ,''`.
     : :'  :     Chris Lamb
     `. `'`      lamby@debian.org / chris-lamb.co.uk
       `-

Message #15 received at 884798@bugs.debian.org (full text, mbox, reply):

From: Helmut Grohne <helmut@subdivi.de>

To: Chris Lamb <lamby@debian.org>

Cc: 884798@bugs.debian.org

Subject: Re: Bug#884798: lintian could complain about pkg-config uses that fail to use $ac_tool_prefix

Date: Fri, 22 Dec 2017 16:26:40 +0100

Hi Chris,

On Wed, Dec 20, 2017 at 10:45:04PM +0000, Chris Lamb wrote:
> > If yes, what would be a good check? Should it just check the toplevel
> > configure.ac and configure.in or any file found on any directory level?
> 
> This is my primary concern ??? warning about broken configure.{am,in} in
> code copies etc. that are not used would just be annoying.

Yeah, that's roughly what I thought when posing the question.

> It might be safe to simply check ./configure.{am,in} or perhaps a
> hardcoded list of subdirs such as src/configure.{am,in}. What do you
> think?

That'd catch the big fish and the big fish is what I'm after. I don't
think there is a silver bullet, but if this check results in 20 packages
fixing their checks, then the effort has certainly paid off on my side.

> > I haven't performed a whole archive-analysis yet, so I cannot tell
> > about the amount of fpos to be expected.
> 
> Would this be easy for you to do? Please go ahead if so and let us know.

Hmm. My scraping tooling mainly focuses on binary packages and doesn't
work on source packages at all. So the easiest way forward might be
using an existing unpack. So I looked into using sor.d.o. I came up with
the following script:

    #!/usr/bin/python
    import os
    from debian.debian_support import version_compare
    base = "/srv/sources.debian.org/sources/main"
    for d in os.listdir(base):
        subdir = os.path.join(base, d)
        for pkg in os.listdir(subdir):
            pkgdir = os.path.join(subdir, pkg)
            ver = None
            for v in os.listdir(pkgdir):
                if v.endswith(".done"):
                    v = v[:-5]
                    if ver is None or version_compare(v, ver) > 0 and os.path.isdir(os.path.join(pkgdir, v)):
                        ver = v
            if not ver:
                continue
            verdir = os.path.join(pkgdir, ver)
            for e in ("configure.ac", "configure.in", "src/configure.ac", "src/configure.in"):
                fn = os.path.join(verdir, e)
                if os.path.isfile(fn):
                    with open(fn) as f:
                        for line in f:
                            if "AC_PATH_PROG" in line and "pkg-config" in line:
                                print("%s_%s/%s:%s" % (pkg, ver, e, line.strip()))

The script tries hard to minimize the io operations incurred on sor.d.o.
Running it for some time yields the following output:

aide_0.16-2/configure.ac:AC_PATH_PROG(PKG_CONFIG, pkg-config, "")
anjuta-extras_3.26.0-2/configure.ac:AC_PATH_PROG(PKG_CONFIG, pkg-config,no)
anyremote_6.6.1-1/configure.ac:AC_PATH_PROG(PKG_CONFIG, pkg-config, no)
apache2_2.4.29-1/configure.in:AC_PATH_PROG(PKGCONFIG, pkg-config)
apertium_3.4.2~r68466-2/configure.ac:AC_PATH_PROG(PKG_CONFIG, pkg-config, no)
apertium-dan_0.5.0~r67099-1/configure.ac:AC_PATH_PROG([PKGCONFIG], [pkg-config], [false], [$PATH$PATH_SEPARATOR$with_pkg_config/bin])
apertium-hbs_0.5.0~r68212-2/configure.ac:AC_PATH_PROG(PKG_CONFIG, pkg-config, no)
apertium-hin_0.1.0~r59158-1/configure.ac:AC_PATH_PROG(PKG_CONFIG, pkg-config, no)
apertium-isl_0.1.0~r65494-1/configure.ac:AC_PATH_PROG(PKG_CONFIG, pkg-config, no)
apertium-kaz_0.1.0~r61338-1/configure.ac:AC_PATH_PROG(PKG_CONFIG, pkg-config, no)
apertium-nno_0.9.0~r69513-2/configure.ac:AC_PATH_PROG([PKGCONFIG], [pkg-config], [false], [$PATH$PATH_SEPARATOR$with_pkg_config/bin])
apertium-nob_0.9.0~r69513-1/configure.ac:AC_PATH_PROG([PKGCONFIG], [pkg-config], [false], [$PATH$PATH_SEPARATOR$with_pkg_config/bin])
apertium-spa_1.1.0~r79716-1/configure.ac:AC_PATH_PROG([PKGCONFIG], [pkg-config], [false], [$PATH$PATH_SEPARATOR$with_pkg_config/bin])
apertium-swe_0.7.0~r69513-1/configure.ac:AC_PATH_PROG([PKGCONFIG], [pkg-config], [false], [$PATH$PATH_SEPARATOR$with_pkg_config/bin])
apertium-tat_0.1.0~r60887-1/configure.ac:AC_PATH_PROG(PKG_CONFIG, pkg-config, no)
apertium-urd_0.1.0~r61311-1/configure.ac:AC_PATH_PROG(PKG_CONFIG, pkg-config, no)
appindicator3-sharp_12.10.0+git20151221-3/configure.ac:AC_PATH_PROG(PKG_CONFIG, pkg-config, no)
apertium-rus_0.1.0~r81184-1/configure.ac:AC_PATH_PROG(PKG_CONFIG, pkg-config, no)
arts_1.5.9-3+deb6u1/configure.in:AC_PATH_PROG(PKG_CONFIG, pkg-config, no)
adesklets_0.6.1-4/configure.ac:AC_PATH_PROG(PKG_CONFIG, pkg-config)
akode_2.0.2-3/configure.in:AC_PATH_PROG(PKG_CONFIG, pkg-config, no)
apertium-tur_0.2.0~r83161-1/configure.ac:AC_PATH_PROG(PKG_CONFIG, pkg-config, no)
balsa_2.5.3-4/configure.ac:AC_PATH_PROG(PKG_CONFIG, pkg-config, no)
bmon_1:4.0-4/configure.ac:AC_PATH_PROG([PKG_CONFIG], [pkg-config], [no])
brltty_5.5-4/configure.ac:AC_PATH_PROG([PKG_CONFIG], [pkg-config], [false])
bamf_0.5.3-2/configure.ac:AC_PATH_PROG(PKG_CONFIG, pkg-config, no)
bareftp_0.3.9-3/configure.ac:AC_PATH_PROG(PKG_CONFIG, pkg-config, no)
bibledit-bibletime_1.1.1-3/configure.ac:AC_PATH_PROG(PKG_CONFIG_PATH, pkg-config, no)
bibledit-gtk_4.9-1/configure.ac:AC_PATH_PROG(PKG_CONFIG_PATH, pkg-config, no)
bibledit-xiphos_1.1.1-2/configure.ac:AC_PATH_PROG(PKG_CONFIG_PATH, pkg-config, no)
blam_1.8.9-4/configure.in:AC_PATH_PROG(PKG_CONFIG, pkg-config, no)
bless_0.6.0-5/configure.ac:AC_PATH_PROG(PKG_CONFIG,pkg-config, no)
bochs_2.6-5/configure.in:AC_PATH_PROG(PKGCONFIG, pkg-config, not_found)
bodr_10-1/configure.ac:# AC_PATH_PROG(PKG_CONFIG, pkg-config, "no")
booth_1.0-3/configure.ac:AC_PATH_PROGS(PKGCONFIG, pkg-config)
bibledit_5.0.331-1/configure.ac:AC_PATH_PROG(PKG_CONFIG_PATH, pkg-config, no)
claws-mail_3.16.0-1/configure.ac:AC_PATH_PROG(PKG_CONFIG, pkg-config, no)
caja_1.18.5-2/configure.ac:AC_PATH_PROG(PKG_CONFIG, pkg-config, no)
caja-actions_1.8.3-1/configure.ac:AC_PATH_PROG(PKG_CONFIG, pkg-config, no)
caja-extensions_1.18.1-1/configure.ac:AC_PATH_PROG(PKG_CONFIG, pkg-config, no)
chemtool_1.6.14-1/configure.ac:AC_PATH_PROG(PKG_CONFIG, pkg-config, no)
clanlib_1.0~svn3827-7/configure.ac:AC_PATH_PROG(PKG_CONFIG, pkg-config, no)
cluster-glue_1.0.12-7/configure.ac:AC_PATH_PROGS(PKGCONFIG, pkg-config)
cowbell_0.2.7.1-7/configure.in:AC_PATH_PROG(PKG_CONFIG, pkg-config, no)
cvsgraph_1.7.0-4/configure.in:AC_PATH_PROG(ac_prog_pkg_config, pkg-config)
cluster-agents_1:1.0.3-4/configure.in:AC_PATH_PROGS(PKGCONFIG, pkg-config)
cssed_0.4.0-4/configure.in:AC_PATH_PROG(PKG_CONFIG, pkg-config, no)
compiz-fusion-plugins-extra_0.8.4-2/configure.ac:AC_PATH_PROG(PKG_CONFIG, pkg-config, no)
compiz-fusion-plugins-extra_0.8.4-2/configure.ac:AC_PATH_PROG(PKG_CONFIG, pkg-config, no)
compiz-fusion-plugins-main_0.8.4-2/configure.ac:AC_PATH_PROG(PKG_CONFIG, pkg-config, no)
compiz-fusion-plugins-main_0.8.4-2/configure.ac:AC_PATH_PROG(PKG_CONFIG, pkg-config, no)
compiz-fusion-plugins-unsupported_0.8.4-3/configure.ac:AC_PATH_PROG(PKG_CONFIG, pkg-config, no)
compiz-fusion-plugins-unsupported_0.8.4-3/configure.ac:AC_PATH_PROG(PKG_CONFIG, pkg-config, no)
cinepaint_0.20-1-1.3/configure.in:AC_PATH_PROG(OPENEXR_CONFIG, pkg-config, no)
cinepaint_0.20-1-1.3/configure.in:AC_PATH_PROG(PNG_CONFIG, pkg-config, no)
cinepaint_0.20-1-1.3/configure.in:AC_PATH_PROG(LCMS_CONFIG, pkg-config, no)
cinepaint_0.20-1-1.3/configure.in:AC_PATH_PROG(PRINT_CONFIG, pkg-config, no)
caja-seahorse_1.18.3-1/configure.ac:AC_PATH_PROG(PKG_CONFIG, pkg-config, no)
directfb_1.7.7-6/configure.in:AC_PATH_PROG(PKG_CONFIG, pkg-config, no)
dbus-sharp-glib_0.6.0-1/configure.ac:AC_PATH_PROG(PKG_CONFIG, pkg-config, no)
ddccontrol_0.4.2-11/configure.ac:AC_PATH_PROG(PKG_CONFIG, pkg-config, no)
dimbl_0.15-1/configure.ac:AC_PATH_PROG(pkgconfigpath, pkg-config, NONE)
directvnc_0.7.7-1/configure.in:AC_PATH_PROG(PKG_CONFIG, pkg-config)
drivel_3.0.3-1/configure.ac:AC_PATH_PROG(PKG_CONFIG, pkg-config, no)
drapes_0.5.2-3.2/configure.ac:AC_PATH_PROG(PKG_CONFIG, pkg-config, no)
dcgui_0.80-6/configure.in:AC_PATH_PROG(PKG_CONFIG, pkg-config)
dctc_0.85.9-5/configure.in:AC_PATH_PROG(PKG_CONFIG, pkg-config)
emacs24_24.5+1-11+deb9u1/configure.ac:AC_PATH_PROG(PKG_CONFIG, pkg-config, no)
exonerate_2.4.0-2/configure.in:AC_PATH_PROG(PKG_CONFIG, pkg-config, no)
emacs23_23.4+1-4/configure.in:AC_PATH_PROG(PKG_CONFIG, pkg-config, no)
emacs22_22.2+2-5/configure.in:AC_PATH_PROG(PKG_CONFIG, pkg-config, no)
evolution-sharp_0.17.1-2/configure.in:AC_PATH_PROG(PKG_CONFIG, pkg-config, no)
freehdl_0.0.8-2.2/configure.ac:AC_PATH_PROG(PKGCONFIG, pkg-config, :)
frog_0.13.7-1/configure.ac:AC_PATH_PROG(pkgconfigpath, pkg-config, NONE)
fsgateway_0.1.1-5/configure.ac:AC_PATH_PROG(PKG_CONFIG, pkg-config, no)
fsharp_4.0.0.4+dfsg2-2/configure.ac:AC_PATH_PROG(PKG_CONFIG, pkg-config, no)
ffprobe_0.svn92-1/configure.in:AC_PATH_PROG(PKG_CONFIG, pkg-config, pkg-config)
fluxconf_0.9.9-1/configure.in:AC_PATH_PROGS(PKGCONF,pkg-config)
fusionsound_1.0.0-3/configure.in:AC_PATH_PROG(PKG_CONFIG, pkg-config, no)
ghostscript_9.22~dfsg-1/configure.ac:AC_PATH_PROG(BUILD_PKGCONFIG, pkg-config)
gcr_3.20.0-6/configure.ac:AC_PATH_PROG(PKG_CONFIG, pkg-config, no)
gkeyfile-sharp_0.1-5/configure.in:AC_PATH_PROG(PKG_CONFIG, pkg-config, no)
gnome-do_0.95.3-5/configure.ac:AC_PATH_PROG(PKG_CONFIG, pkg-config, no)
gnome-keyring_3.20.1-2/configure.ac:AC_PATH_PROG(PKG_CONFIG, pkg-config, no)
gnome-sharp2_2.24.2-4/configure.in:AC_PATH_PROG(PKG_CONFIG, pkg-config, no)
gnome-subtitles_1.3-2/configure.ac:AC_PATH_PROG(PKG_CONFIG, pkg-config, no)
gnome-user-share_3.18.3-3/configure.ac:AC_PATH_PROG(PKG_CONFIG, pkg-config, no)
gnustep-base_1.25.0-2/configure.ac:AC_PATH_PROG(PKGCONFIG, pkg-config, yes, no)
gpdftext_0.1.6-2/configure.ac:AC_PATH_PROG(PKG_CONFIG, pkg-config, no)
gpointing-device-settings_1.5.1-6/configure.ac:AC_PATH_PROG([PKG_CONFIG], [pkg-config], [no])
gretl_2017d-2/configure.ac:AC_PATH_PROG(PKG_CONFIG, pkg-config, no)
gshare_0.94-14/configure.ac:AC_PATH_PROG(PKG_CONFIG, pkg-config, no)
gtk-sharp2_2.12.40-2/configure.in:AC_PATH_PROG(PKG_CONFIG, pkg-config, no)
gtk-sharp3_2.99.3-2/configure.ac:AC_PATH_PROG(PKG_CONFIG, pkg-config, no)
gudev-sharp-1.0_0.1-4/configure.in:AC_PATH_PROG(PKG_CONFIG, pkg-config, no)
gvfs_1.34.1-2/configure.ac:AC_PATH_PROG(PKG_CONFIG, pkg-config, no)
g2ipmsg_0.9.6+dfsg-1.1/configure.in:AC_PATH_PROG(PKGCONFIG, pkg-config, no, $PATH:/usr/bin:/usr/local/bin)
gfax_0.7.7+ds-2/configure.in:AC_PATH_PROG(PKG_CONFIG, pkg-config, no)
gnome-desktop-sharp2_2.26.0-8/configure.in:AC_PATH_PROG(PKG_CONFIG, pkg-config, no)
gnome-photo-printer_0.7.0-1.2/configure.ac:AC_PATH_PROG(PKGCONFIG, pkg-config, no)
gnome-rdp_0.3.0.9-3/configure.ac:AC_PATH_PROG(PKG_CONFIG, pkg-config, no)
gnome-schedule_2.1.1-4/configure.ac:AC_PATH_PROG( PKGCONFIG, pkg-config, no, $PATH:/usr/bin:/usr/local/bin)
gnome-u2ps_0.0.4-4.2/configure.in:AC_PATH_PROG(PKG_CONFIG, [pkg-config], [no])
gpe-expenses_0.1.9-2/configure.ac:AC_PATH_PROG(PKG_CONFIG, pkg-config, no)
gpe-expenses_0.1.9-2/configure.ac:AC_PATH_PROG(PKG_CONFIG,pkg-config)
gtkglarea-sharp_0.0.17-6/configure.ac:AC_PATH_PROG(PKG_CONFIG, pkg-config, no)
gupnp-vala_0.10.4-1/configure.ac:AC_PATH_PROG(PKG_CONFIG, pkg-config, no)
gamix_1.99.p14.debian1-6/configure.in:AC_PATH_PROG(PKGC,pkg-config,no)
gfccore_2.3.1-7/configure.ac:AC_PATH_PROG(PKG_CONFIG, pkg-config, no)
gfcui_2.3.1-8/configure.ac:AC_PATH_PROG(PKG_CONFIG, pkg-config, no)
ghc6_6.12.1-13/configure.ac:AC_PATH_PROGS([GTK_CONFIG], [pkg-config])
giver_0.1.8-6/configure.ac:AC_PATH_PROG(PKG_CONFIG, pkg-config, no)
glame_2.0.1-5/configure.ac:AC_PATH_PROG(PKG_CONFIG, pkg-config, no)
gnome-swallow_1.2-4/configure.ac:AC_PATH_PROG(PKG_CONFIG, pkg-config, , )
gsf-sharp_0.8-3/configure.in:AC_PATH_PROG(PKG_CONFIG, pkg-config, no)
geda-gattrib_1:1.4.0-5/configure.ac:AC_PATH_PROG(PKG_CONFIG, pkg-config, no)
geda-gnetlist_1:1.4.0-3/configure.ac:AC_PATH_PROG(PKG_CONFIG, pkg-config, no)
geda-gschem_1:1.4.0-3/configure.ac:AC_PATH_PROG(PKG_CONFIG, pkg-config, no)
geda-gsymcheck_1:1.4.0-3/configure.ac:AC_PATH_PROG(PKG_CONFIG, pkg-config, no)
geda-utils_1:1.4.0-3/configure.ac:AC_PATH_PROG(PKG_CONFIG, pkg-config, no)
geda-utils_1:1.4.0-3/configure.ac:AC_PATH_PROG(PKG_CONFIG, pkg-config, no)
gnome-build_0.2.4-1/configure.in:AC_PATH_PROG(PKG_CONFIG, pkg-config,no)
gpsim-lcd-graphic_0.3.0-1.1/configure.ac:AC_PATH_PROG(PKGCONFIG, pkg-config, no, ${PATH})
gpsim-lcd_0.2.9-1/configure.in:AC_PATH_PROG(PKGCONFIG, pkg-config, no, ${PATH})
gsynaptics_0.9.14-6/configure.ac:AC_PATH_PROG([PKG_CONFIG], [pkg-config], [no])
gtksourceview-sharp2_0.12-1/configure.in:AC_PATH_PROG(PKG_CONFIG, pkg-config, no)
gecko-sharp2_0.11-3/configure.in:AC_PATH_PROG(PKG_CONFIG, pkg-config, no)
gq_1.0.0-3/configure.in:AC_PATH_PROG(PKG_CONFIG, pkg-config,,$PATH)
gq_1.0.0-3/configure.in:AC_PATH_PROG(PKG_CONFIG, pkg-config,,$PATH)
gq_1.0.0-3/configure.in:AC_PATH_PROG(PKG_CONFIG, pkg-config,,$PATH)
gs-esp_8.15.3.dfsg.1-1etch1/configure.ac:AC_PATH_PROG(PKGCONFIG, pkg-config)
gs-esp_8.15.3.dfsg.1-1etch1/src/configure.ac:AC_PATH_PROG(PKGCONFIG, pkg-config)
gtk-sharp_1:1.0.10-5/configure.in:AC_PATH_PROG(PKG_CONFIG, pkg-config, no)
gudev-sharp-3.0_3.0.0-1/configure.ac:AC_PATH_PROG(PKG_CONFIG, pkg-config, no)
hfst_3.13.0~r3461-2/configure.ac:[AC_PATH_PROG([PKG_CONFIG], [pkg-config])
hfst-ospell_0.4.5~r343-2.1/configure.ac:AC_PATH_PROG([PKGCONFIG], [pkg-config], [no])
hocr_0.10.18-2/configure.ac:AC_PATH_PROG(PKG_CONFIG, pkg-config, no)
hyena_0.5-4/configure.ac:AC_PATH_PROG(PKG_CONFIG, pkg-config, no)
heartbeat-2_2.0.7-2/configure.in:AC_PATH_PROGS(PKGCONFIG, pkg-config)
imhangul_2.1.1-2/configure.in:dnl AC_PATH_PROG(PKG_CONFIG, pkg-config, no)
imhangul3_3.1.1-2/configure.in:dnl AC_PATH_PROG(PKG_CONFIG, pkg-config, no)
inkscape_0.92.2-2/configure.ac:AC_PATH_PROG(PKG_CONFIG, pkg-config, no)
isc-kea_1.1.0-1/configure.ac:AC_PATH_PROG([PKG_CONFIG], [pkg-config])
isync_1.2.1-2/configure.ac:AC_PATH_PROG(PKGCONFIG, pkg-config, no, $PATH:/usr/bin:/usr/local/bin)
inti-gl_0.9.0-3/configure.in:AC_PATH_PROG(PKG_CONFIG, pkg-config, no)
inti-sourceview_0.6.0-4/configure.in:AC_PATH_PROG(PKG_CONFIG, pkg-config, no)
...

From these, I'd estimate ~500 flagged packages. None of the matches look
like false positives. I suggest using the following pattern:

    AC_PATH_PROG\s*\([^,]+,\s*\[?pkg-config\]?\s*,

In each case, switching to AC_PATH_TOOL looks like a straight forward
fix, but often enough using PKG_PROG_PKG_CONFIG would be even better.

Helmut

Message #22 received at 884798@bugs.debian.org (full text, mbox, reply):

From: Chris Lamb <lamby@debian.org>

To: 884798@bugs.debian.org

Cc: Helmut Grohne <helmut@subdivi.de>

Subject: Re: lintian could complain about pkg-config uses that fail to use

Date: Fri, 22 Dec 2017 20:09:20 +0000

tags 884798 + pending
thanks

Implemented in Git:

  https://anonscm.debian.org/git/lintian/lintian.git/commit/?id=70c81c7f1c9e96c8109988efe8aeca7ed17f122a

Let me know if you have any suggestions :)


Regards,

-- 
      ,''`.
     : :'  :     Chris Lamb
     `. `'`      lamby@debian.org / chris-lamb.co.uk
       `-

Message #27 received at 884798@bugs.debian.org (full text, mbox, reply):

From: Helmut Grohne <helmut@subdivi.de>

To: Chris Lamb <lamby@debian.org>

Cc: 884798@bugs.debian.org

Subject: Re: lintian could complain about pkg-config uses that fail to use

Date: Fri, 22 Dec 2017 21:37:51 +0100

Hi Chris,

On Fri, Dec 22, 2017 at 08:09:20PM +0000, Chris Lamb wrote:
>   https://anonscm.debian.org/git/lintian/lintian.git/commit/?id=70c81c7f1c9e96c8109988efe8aeca7ed17f122a
> 
> Let me know if you have any suggestions :)

Yes, I do.

The tag description suggests that pkg-config could have been invoked
directly. While that is a common way to fail cross compilation, the
pattern does not check that other case.

My original description suggested using another pattern

    (\$\(|`)pkg-config

for that other case matching the second paragraph of the tag
description. To see just how common this is, check:

https://codesearch.debian.net/search?q=path%3Aconfigure%5C.%5Bai%5D%5Bcn%5D+%28%5C%24%5C%28%7C%60%29pkg-config

I think you should remove the second paragraph from the description.
Flagging is probably better done in a separate tag (both of which can
and sometimes do happen in the same configure.ac).

I also wonder what the best advise actually is. Of course using
PKG_PROG_PKG_CONFIG is "best" in a sense, but it behaves subtly
different. The present use of AC_PATH_PROG gives choice of the variable
name and the value-for-absence to the user while the standard macro will
simply use PKG_CONFIG and an empty value. A number of scripts check
things like test "$PKG_CONFIG" = no and that would break when switching
the macro. On the other hand, using AC_PATH_TOOL in place of
AC_PATH_PROG is mostly risk-less, because it takes the very same
arguments and behaves in the same way (except for prepending
$ac_tool_prefix). So the better solution certainly is
PKG_PROG_PKG_CONFIG, but the riskless one certainly is AC_PATH_TOOL.

What are your thoughts here?

Helmut

Message #32 received at 884798@bugs.debian.org (full text, mbox, reply):

From: Chris Lamb <lamby@debian.org>

To: Helmut Grohne <helmut@subdivi.de>

Cc: 884798@bugs.debian.org

Subject: Re: lintian could complain about pkg-config uses that fail to use

Date: Fri, 22 Dec 2017 20:47:00 +0000

Hi Helmut,

> The tag description suggests that pkg-config could have been invoked
> directly. While that is a common way to fail cross compilation, the
> pattern does not check that other case.

Good call. I've renamed it to the more-generic:

  autotools-pkg-config-macro-not-cross-compilation-safe

> I think you should remove the second paragraph from the description.

Done.

> I also wonder what the best advise actually is. Of course using
> PKG_PROG_PKG_CONFIG is "best" in a sense, but it behaves subtly
> different.
[…]

Unfortunately I'm not enough of an Autotools (ab)?user to have any
real input here. I defer to your esteemed and battle-hardenened
insight :)


Best wishes,

-- 
      ,''`.
     : :'  :     Chris Lamb
     `. `'`      lamby@debian.org / chris-lamb.co.uk
       `-

Message #37 received at 884798-close@bugs.debian.org (full text, mbox, reply):

From: Chris Lamb <lamby@debian.org>

To: 884798-close@bugs.debian.org

Subject: Bug#884798: fixed in lintian 2.5.66

Date: Tue, 26 Dec 2017 15:49:26 +0000

Source: lintian
Source-Version: 2.5.66

We believe that the bug you reported is fixed in the latest version of
lintian, which is due to be installed in the Debian FTP archive.

A summary of the changes between this version and the previous one is
attached.

Thank you for reporting the bug, which will now be closed.  If you
have further comments please address them to 884798@bugs.debian.org,
and the maintainer will reopen the bug report if appropriate.

Debian distribution maintenance software
pp.
Chris Lamb <lamby@debian.org> (supplier of updated lintian package)

(This message was generated automatically at their request; if you
believe that there is a problem with it please contact the archive
administrators by mailing ftpmaster@ftp-master.debian.org)


-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA256

Format: 1.8
Date: Tue, 26 Dec 2017 14:59:29 +0000
Source: lintian
Binary: lintian
Architecture: source all
Version: 2.5.66
Distribution: unstable
Urgency: medium
Maintainer: Debian Lintian Maintainers <lintian-maint@debian.org>
Changed-By: Chris Lamb <lamby@debian.org>
Description:
 lintian    - Debian package checker
Closes: 637473 741071 782277 806237 833613 837548 864999 884503 884676 884678 884683 884699 884785 884798 884817 884848 885042 885096 885106 885327
Changes:
 lintian (2.5.66) unstable; urgency=medium
 .
   Merry Christmas!
 .
   * Summary of tag changes:
     + Added:
       - autotools-pkg-config-macro-not-cross-compilation-safe
       - bugs-field-does-not-refer-to-debian-infrastructure
       - mismatched-python-substvar
       - missing-notice-file-for-apache-license
       - override_dh_clean-does-not-call-dh_clean
       - package-contains-python-doctree-file
       - pkg-config-unavailable-for-cross-compilation
       - portable-executable-missing-security-features
       - python-package-depends-on-package-from-other-python-variant
       - vcs-fields-use-more-than-one-vcs
 .
   * checks/*.desc:
     + [CL] Standardise on capital-L "Lintian" in package descriptions.
       Thanks to Adam D. Barratt for the suggestion.
   * checks/cruft.{pm,desc}:
     + [CL] Check for packages that invoke AC_PATH_PROG without considering
       cross-compilation. Thanks to Helmut Grohne for the idea and
       proof-of-concept implementation.  (Closes: #884798)
   * checks/fields.{pm,desc}:
     + [CL] Emit a wishlist warning for packages that mix-and-match more
       than one version control system in Vcs-* headers.  (Closes: #884503)
     + [CL] Warn when packages specify a "Bugs" field in debian/control that
       does not refer to official Debian infrastructure as this can make
       reportbug unable to report bugs.  (Closes: #741071)
   * checks/files.{pm,desc}:
     + [CL] Warn maintainers about packages that ship pkg-config files under
       /usr/lib/pkgconfig as they are unavailable under cross-compilation.
       Thanks to Helmut Grohne for the idea.  (Closes: #885096)
     + [CL] Warn about packages that ship non-reproducible Python .doctree
       files.  (Closes: #885327)
     + [CL] Factor out simple filename checks into a Lintian::Data variable.
   * checks/init.d.{pm,desc}:
     + [CL] Don't emit init.d-script-needs-depends-on-lsb-base if the
       package ships a Systemd service file.  (Closes: #864999)
   * checks/lintian.desc:
     + [CL] Also note that unused-override can be triggered if Lintian
       adds/modifies supplementary tag metadata.
   * checks/obsolete-sites.pm:
     + [CL] Ignore commented-out lines to avoid false-positives where the
       maintainer references the old location.  (Closes: #806237)
   * checks/pe.{pm,desc}:
     + [CL] Check for Microsoft Windows Portable Executable (PE) files that
       are missing security hardening features. Thanks to Petter
       Reinholdtsen for the report.  (Closes: #837548)
   * checks/python.{pm,desc}:
     + [CL] Warn about Python 2.x packages using ${python3:Depends} and
       Python 3.x packages using ${python:Depends}. Thanks to Mattia
       Rizzolo for the idea.  (Closes: #884676)
     + [CL] Factor out definition of dependency fields.
     + [CL] Warn about Python 3 packages that depend on Python 2 packages
       and vice versa.  (Closes: #782277)
   * checks/rules.{desc,pm}:
     + [CL] Check for override_dh_clean targets that are missing calls to
       dh_clean. Thanks to Andreas Beckmann for the idea.  (Closes: #884817)
   * checks/standards-version.pm:
     + [CL] Avoid misleading tag descriptions when emitting valid
       timewarp-standards-version warnings if the date parts are identical
       (ie. "2017-11-30 < 2017-11-30"). Thanks to Andrea Bolognani
       eof@kiyuko.org> for the report.  (Closes: #884785)
   * checks/source-copyright.{desc,pm}:
     + [CL] Check for Apache 2.0 packages that do not distribute their
       accompanying "NOTICE" files.  (Closes: #885042)
     + [CL] Use the list of files in the orig tarball (rather than in the
       regular index) to prevent false positives when checking for the
       source-includes-file-in-files-excluded tag when a patch system
       re-adds files that were removed.  (Closes: #884848)
 .
   * collection/src-orig-index:
     + [CL] Correct references to generated filename.
     + [CL] Update bitrotted calls to Lintian::Command:spawn.
 .
   * data/debhelper/compat-level:
     + [MR] Bump the experimental debhelper compat level to 12.
       (Closes: #884678)
     + [CL] Bump the recommended debehlper compat level to 11, emitting a
       pedantic warning when using lower level.  (Closes: #884699)
   * data/debhelper/dh_commands:
     + [CL] dh_scour is now provided by python3-scour, not python-scour.
       Thanks to Jeremy Bicha.  (Closes: #885106)
   * data/files/js-libraries:
     + [CL] Detect embedded jQuery libraries with version number in their
       filenames (eg. jquery-1.10.2.min.js).  (Closes: #833613)
     + [CL] Also emit embedded-javascript-library for Twitter Bootstrap and
       "mustache".
   * data/files/php-libraries:
     + [CL] Avoid a embedded-php-library false positive for streams.php.
       (Closes: #637473)
   * data/spelling/corrections:
     + [PW] Add a number of corrections.
 .
   * debian/compat:
     + [NT] Bump debhelper compat level to 11.
   * debian/control:
     + [CL] Tag relevant build-dependencies with <!nocheck>.
     + [NT] Bump versioned Build-Dependency on debhelper to 11~.
 .
   * lib/Lintian/Collect/{Package,Source}.pm:
     + [CL] Don't require that src-orig-index.gz actually contains any files
       rather than faking an entry.
 .
   * reporting/templates/maintainer.tmpl:
     + [CL] Correct invalid "else if" syntax with "elsif". Thanks to Uwe
       Kleine-König for the report.
 .
   * t/tests/fields-malformed-vcs-fields-unrel:
     + [CL] Add a regression test for a potential false positive in the
       "vcs-field-has-unexpected-spaces" tag.  (Ref: #884870)
   * t/tests/files-multiarch-foreign-files:
     + [CL] Don't hardcode architecture triplet to fix FTBFS on non-amd64
       architectures.  (Closes: #884683)
   * t/scripts/implemented-tags.t:
     + [CL] Exclude some tests in this coverage check now that they are
       specified in a data file rather than in the code itself.
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 ffd268765754c7f90afafdae6da7a2b5186a910a 2610532 lintian_2.5.66.tar.xz
 0fe51b31ff9ba9e52d4b15b09d4a828a1a5636ee 1080132 lintian_2.5.66_all.deb
 2e2b3b2bb0e73c23df474d10896e585e86c8209c 15861 lintian_2.5.66_amd64.buildinfo
Checksums-Sha256:
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Files:
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Message #42 received at 884798@bugs.debian.org (full text, mbox, reply):

From: James McCoy <vega.james@gmail.com>

To: Helmut Grohne <helmut@subdivi.de>, 884798@bugs.debian.org

Subject: Re: Bug#884798: lintian could complain about pkg-config uses that fail to use $ac_tool_prefix

Date: Fri, 29 Dec 2017 18:02:07 -0500

On Tue, Dec 19, 2017 at 08:56:20PM +0100, Helmut Grohne wrote:
> A slightly better way would be using AC_PATH_TOOL (with the same
> arguments) and the only difference here is considering $ac_tool_prefix.
> The recommended way is using the PKG_PROG_PKG_CONFIG macro from
> pkg-config tough. This macro will result in an empty PKG_CONFIG variable
> if pkg-config happens to not be found rather than the "no" value
> depicted above.

http://tirania.org/blog/archive/2012/Oct-20.html had some strong words
to say about using pkg.m4.  Are those concerns still valid?  Should
pkg.m4's macros be recommended or simply AC_PATH_TOOL?

Cheers,
-- 
James
GPG Key: 4096R/91BF BF4D 6956 BD5D F7B7  2D23 DFE6 91AE 331B A3DB

Message #47 received at 884798@bugs.debian.org (full text, mbox, reply):

From: Helmut Grohne <helmut@subdivi.de>

To: James McCoy <vega.james@gmail.com>

Cc: 884798@bugs.debian.org

Subject: Re: Bug#884798: lintian could complain about pkg-config uses that fail to use $ac_tool_prefix

Date: Sat, 30 Dec 2017 08:01:50 +0100

On Fri, Dec 29, 2017 at 06:02:07PM -0500, James McCoy wrote:
> http://tirania.org/blog/archive/2012/Oct-20.html had some strong words
> to say about using pkg.m4.  Are those concerns still valid?  Should
> pkg.m4's macros be recommended or simply AC_PATH_TOOL?

That blog post looks like a misinformed user to me. The shell way he
recommends breaks cross compilation. I've never encountered the issue of
aclocal not substituting PKG_CHECK_MODULES as pkg.m4 is on the search
path once you install pkg-config. On Debian system you practically
cannot encounter the issue (as you will have pkg-config installed anyway
to use it). For other distributions, many source packages embed
(outdated) copies of pkg.m4. This is not great, but works.

In any case, using AC_PATH_TOOL fixes cross compilation. Just refrain
from using bare pkg-config.

Helmut

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