FREETYPE-CONFIG(1)

📦
version 2.14.3 · 5 versions
, in fedora 44, nixos 26.05, nixpkgs unstable, opensuse-leap 16.0

💖 FREETYPE-CONFIG — the manual, but make it cute 💖

okay so bestie, you know how sometimes you gotta build stuff against a library and you're just standing there like 🧍 "what flags do I even pass"... yeah. this is that page. it's the General Commands Manual entry for freetype-config, and I'm gonna walk you through it like we're texting. no cap.

✨ NAME ✨

freetype-config — get information about a libfreetype installation 🦋

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

freetype-config [options]

that's it. that's the whole vibe. options in, info out. 💅

✨ DESCRIPTION ✨

so freetype-config is the little helper that hands you the info you need for compiling and linking programs with the FreeType library — think linker flags and compilation parameters, all that good stuff. ✨

alternatively (and honestly this is the part I'm obsessed with), you can use it to query info about the FreeType library that's installed on your system — like the installation (directory path) prefix, or the FreeType version number. it's giving personal assistant but for your build system. 🎀

here's the tea tho: if pkg-config(1) is found in the path, freetype-config acts as a wrapper for pkg-config. so it's lowkey just forwarding the vibes. 💅

this program is part of the FreeType package. 🫶

✨ OPTIONS ✨

there are two types of options, bestie, and you gotta know which is which:

  • output/display selection options — pick what info you want printed
  • path override options — override where it thinks stuff lives

🌸 Output selection options 🌸

only one of the output selection options should be given at each program invocation. one. singular. don't be greedy. 😭
  • --prefix — returns the prefix value of the installed FreeType library. and btw, the default prefix will be /usr in most cases for distribution-installed packages. iykyk. 💜
  • --exec-prefix — returns the executable prefix value of the installed FreeType library. spoiler alert: it'll often be the same as the prefix value. twins fr fr. 👑
  • --ftversion — returns the FreeType version number, directly derived from the file freetype.h. straight from the source, no middleman. ✨
  • --version — returns the libtool version of the FreeType library. (yes this is a different thing from --ftversion, don't mix them up bestie, I'm begging 🙈)
  • --libtool — returns the library name for linking with libtool. 🔧
  • --libs — returns compiler flags for linking with the installed FreeType library. 🔗
  • --cflags — returns compiler flags for compiling against the installed FreeType library. 🛠️
  • --static — makes command line options display flags for static linking. (heads up tho, see the BUGS section below, this one's got a little drama attached 👀)
  • --help — shows help and exits. the classic. always there for you. 🫶

🌈 Path override options 🌈

these affect any selected output option — with one exception: the libtool version returned by --version. that one doesn't care. iconic of it honestly. 💅

  • --prefix=PREFIX — overrides the --prefix value with PREFIX. and plot twist: this also sets --exec-prefix=PREFIX if the option --exec-prefix is not explicitly given. two for one, slay. 🎀
  • --exec-prefix=EPREFIX — overrides the --exec-prefix value with EPREFIX. 🦋

💀 BUGS 💀

okay this is the part where we get real, because the vibes are NOT immaculate here. 😭

  • in case the libraries FreeType links to are located in non-standard directories, and pkg-config(1) is not available, the output from option --libs might be incomplete. so it's thus recommended to use the pkg-config(1) interface instead, which is able to correctly resolve all dependencies. periodt. use the better one. 💅
  • setting --exec-prefix (either explicitly or implicitly — so sneaky or up front, both count) might return incorrect results if combined with option --static. and the same problem can occur if you set the SYSROOT environment variable. so like... be aware. be very aware. 🫠
fr fr: if things look weird with --static or SYSROOT in the mix, it's not you, it's the known bug. 💀

👑 AUTHOR 👑

this manual page was contributed by Nis Martensen <nis.martensen@web.de>, with further refinements from the FreeType team. credit where credit is due, they ate. 🔥

and that's the whole page bestie, we made it to the end 🫶 one last thing — this is FreeType 2.14.3, from March 2026, and that's your little footer moment. go forth and compile responsibly. mwah. 💖✨🎀

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