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{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"DiscussionForumPosting","headline":"Feature: Add guide to install system dependencies with pixi","articleBody":"### Describe the enhancement or feature you would like\n\nI've stopped using `brew` on my macOS and I'm instead using `pixi` whenever I need system-level dependencies. This works very well in practice even for building CPython and I can do things like `pixi run configure` and it automatically sets up all of the system dependencies and runs `configure`. Doing that requires setting some environment variables here and there, but I've done that in a `pixi.toml` and it's all automated. It looks somewhat like this:\n\n```toml\n[project]\nname = \"cpython-dev\"\nchannels = [\"conda-forge\"]\nplatforms = [\"osx-arm64\"]\n\n[dependencies]\ngdbm = \"*\"\nlibmpdec-devel = \"*\"\nopenssl = \"3.*\"\npkg-config = \"*\"\ntk = \"*\"\nxz = \"*\"\nzstd = \"*\"\nzlib = \"*\"\n\n[tasks.configure]\ncmd = \"./configure --with-openssl=$CONDA_PREFIX\"\n\n[tasks.configure.env]\nPKG_CONFIG_PATH = \"$CONDA_PREFIX/lib/pkgconfig\"\nGDBM_CFLAGS = \"-I$CONDA_PREFIX/include\"\nGDBM_LIBS = \"-L$CONDA_PREFIX/lib -lgdbm\"\nTCLTK_CFLAGS = \"$(pkg-config --cflags tcl tk)\"\n# tcl.pc and tk.pc files contain stub libraries, but those do not extist\n# in the conda package\nTCLTK_LIBS = \"$(pkg-config --libs tcl tk | sed 's/-l[^ ]*stub[^ ]*//g')\"\nLDFLAGS = \"-Wl,-rpath,$CONDA_PREFIX/lib\"\n```\n\nIt's a bit too much to propose adding this to the CPython repo, at least for now. However, pointing to this as a way to install system-level dependencies in the devguide doesn't sounds like a bad idea to me.\n\nThoughts? Is there an appetite for this? If so, I can start drafting a PR.\n\n### Describe alternatives you have considered\n\n_No response_\n\n### Additional context\n\n_No response_","author":{"url":"https://github.com/lysnikolaou","@type":"Person","name":"lysnikolaou"},"datePublished":"2025-10-17T15:29:14.000Z","interactionStatistic":{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":"https://schema.org/CommentAction","userInteractionCount":4},"url":"https://github.com/1669/devguide/issues/1669"}