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libtool

brew install libtool v2.5.4 GPL-2.0-or-later

Shared library build tool that generates portable scripts for compiling, linking, and installing cross-platform libraries.

Why you might care

Libtool abstracts away platform-specific details when building shared libraries, handling .so, .dylib, and .dll creation uniformly across Unix-like systems and Windows. It's a core build dependency for thousands of GNU autotools-based projects; if your `./configure && make` uses libtool, you need it installed. Developers rarely interact with it directly—it works behind the scenes via automake and autoconf.

Categories

Alternatives

pkg-config CMake Meson
44.8k
30-day installs · #143
166.3k
90-day · #127
623.8k
365-day · #108

Runtime dependencies

m4

Links

Caveats

All commands have been installed with the prefix "g".
If you need to use these commands with their normal names, you
can add a "gnubin" directory to your PATH from your bashrc like:
  PATH="$HOMEBREW_PREFIX/opt/libtool/libexec/gnubin:$PATH"

Blurb generated by claude-haiku-4-5 on today.

Raw metadata
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  "caveats": "All commands have been installed with the prefix \"g\".\nIf you need to use these commands with their normal names, you\ncan add a \"gnubin\" directory to your PATH from your bashrc like:\n  PATH=\"$HOMEBREW_PREFIX/opt/libtool/libexec/gnubin:$PATH\"\n",
  "conflicts_with": [],
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  "license": "GPL-2.0-or-later",
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  "why_use_this": "Libtool abstracts away platform-specific details when building shared libraries, handling .so, .dylib, and .dll creation uniformly across Unix-like systems and Windows. It\u0027s a core build dependency for thousands of GNU autotools-based projects; if your `./configure \u0026\u0026 make` uses libtool, you need it installed. Developers rarely interact with it directly\u2014it works behind the scenes via automake and autoconf."
}