How do I reliably figure out link flags for libraries? I always end up

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Editorial Team

Asked: June 18, 20262026-06-18T16:29:59+00:00 2026-06-18T16:29:59+00:00

How do I reliably figure out link flags for libraries? I always end up googling/digging manuals.

Is there a way to list libraries available for linking, with names and/or descriptions?

edit: Linux system, GNU build chain, classics.

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Editorial Team · Answer 1 · 2026-06-18T16:30:00+00:00

Editorial Team

On most Linux systems, you can use pkg-config to list out the compiler options for a given library. For example:

g++ example.cpp $(pkg-config --cflags --libs libpng)

becomes

g++ example.cpp -I/usr/include/libpng12 -lpng12

Or an example with slightly more complicated output:

$ pkg-config --cflags --libs gthread
-D_REENTRANT -I/usr/include/glib-1.2 -I/usr/lib64/glib/include  -lgthread -lpthread -lglib

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