dependencies: make the preferred LibType available to any ExternalDependency

Just like we automatically provide some reusable glue for self.static,
provide it here too. It seems plausibly like something people would
commonly want.

1 files changed, 2 insertions, 1 deletions

diff --git a/mesonbuild/dependencies/base.py b/mesonbuild/dependencies/base.py
index 7d6bf62..fd2b069 100644
--- a/mesonbuild/dependencies/base.py
+++ b/mesonbuild/dependencies/base.py
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ from enum import Enum
 
 from .. import mlog
 from ..compilers import clib_langs
-from ..mesonlib import MachineChoice, MesonException, HoldableObject
+from ..mesonlib import LibType, MachineChoice, MesonException, HoldableObject
 from ..mesonlib import version_compare_many
 from ..interpreterbase import FeatureDeprecated
 
@@ -319,6 +319,7 @@ class ExternalDependency(Dependency, HasNativeKwarg):
         self.required = kwargs.get('required', True)
         self.silent = kwargs.get('silent', False)
         self.static = kwargs.get('static', False)
+        self.libtype = LibType.STATIC if self.static else LibType.PREFER_SHARED
         if not isinstance(self.static, bool):
             raise DependencyException('Static keyword must be boolean')
         # Is this dependency to be run on the build platform?