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We are dropping the Autotools build for GTK 3.x, and have fully switched to Meson. If you package GTK 3 and you are still using Autotools, now is the time to switch.

For more information, see the announcement on Discourse: https://discourse.gnome.org/t/removing-the-autotools-build-for-gtk-3/12764

#gtk #meson #autotools #distro #packaging

Removing the Autotools build for GTK 3

The next GTK 3 release, 3.24.46, will drop support for building with Autotools. GTK has been using Meson in its main development branch since 2016, and in the gtk-3-24 branch since 2018. While we did not officially support the Meson build in the 3.
GNOME Discourse
#gtk #packaging #distro #autotools #meson
in reply to GTK

GTK
GTK
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To those still wondering what kind of performance improvement Meson brings to an established project over Autotools, here are some numbers from the Yocto project after they switched their native GTK3 build recipe:

config (autotools): 38.5s
config (meson): 17.9s (-53.5%)
install (autotools): 11.2s
install (meson): 1.6s (-85.5%)
compile (autotools): 100.8s
compile (meson): 37.5s (-62.8%)

The build went from nearly 2 minutes to sub-1 minute

reshared this

in reply to GTK

GTK
GTK
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For the cross-compilation build, the improvements are even more marked:

config (autotools): 55.5s
config (meson): 22.0s (-60.4%)
install (autotools): 11.6s
install (meson): 3.6s (-68.7%)
compile (autotools): 415.5s
compile (meson): 235.3s (-43.4%)

If your project is still holding on to Autotools because of sunk cost, do yourself a favour, and start looking at Meson.

https://mesonbuild.com

The Meson Build system

mesonbuild.com
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