I want to replace pkg-config with pkgconf, an implementation that's actively maintained.
https://github.com/pkgconf/pkgconf/
pkgconf is reportedly both faster and has saner behavior.
For example, right now `pkg-config --exists OpenEXR` fails if glu is not installed, since OpenEXR has a "private" dependency on glu. However, `pkg-config --libs OpenEXR` works since pkg-config ignores private dependencies here.
Private dependencies are relevant for static linking, analogous to a shared library's DT_NEEDED tags. `pkg-config --static --libs OpenEXR` lists the libraries necessary to statically link OpenEXR.
pkgconf is more consistent and follows private dependencies only if --static is given, regardless of whether --libs or --exists is used.
pkgconf is in use by at least FreeBSD, NetBSD, Fedora and Mageia; so we wouldn't be the first ones making the switch.
There's already a package in [community] owned by demize. I would make some adjustments before releasing it to [testing].
Any objections?