./configure does not favour self-compiled dependecies #14959

1. 
   hebasto commented at 1:02 pm on December 14, 2018: member

   Steps to reproduce this issue:

   1. Clear minimal installation of Ubuntu 18.04.1
   2. Install requirements

   0sudo apt install build-essential libtool automake pkg-config cmake curl git
   

   3. Clone repository

   0git clone https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin.git
   1cd bitcoin
   

   4. Build dependencies

   0pushd depends
   1make
   2popd
   

   The final output of make: copying packages: native_protobuf boost openssl libevent zeromq qrencode protobuf zlib qt expat dbus libxcb xcb_proto libXau xproto freetype fontconfig libX11 xextproto libXext xtrans bdb miniupnpc to: /home/hebasto/bitcoin/depends/x86_64-pc-linux-gnu

   5. Build

   0./autogen.sh
   1./configure --prefix=$PWD/depends/x86_64-pc-linux-gnu
   2make
   

   Note the using of the --prefix option. That is the only way to build successfully I’ve found. ./configure --help gives description confusing to me:

   0Installation directories:
   1  --prefix=PREFIX         install architecture-independent files in PREFIX
   2                          [/usr/local]
   

   The question ONE: Why can’t ./configure without any options find out self-compiled dependencies in the depends/ directory? Is it intentional?

   The question TWO: What does --prefix do in ./configure --prefix=$PWD/depends/x86_64-pc-linux-gnu exactly?

2. fanquake added the label Build system on Dec 14, 2018
3. 
   practicalswift commented at 8:42 pm on April 28, 2019: contributor

   FWIW you’re not alone here: I found the use of --prefix (for anything beyond the ordinary meaning of installation destination) unintuitive too :-)
4. 
   hebasto commented at 7:36 am on January 16, 2020: member

   Closing in favor of #16692 and #17934
5. hebasto closed this on Jan 16, 2020

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6. DrahtBot locked this on Feb 15, 2022

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Build system