The problem is with the deb dependencies, not the pkg-config. The libs *are needed* by some of the objects in the archive. Try building, for example, miral-test without them...
[100%] Linking CXX executable ../bin/miral-test
/usr/bin/ld: /usr/local/lib/libmir-test-assist.a(executable_path.cpp.o): undefined reference to symbol '_ZN5boost6system15system_categoryEv'
//usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libboost_system.so.1.61.0: error adding symbols: DSO missing from command line
The problem is with the deb dependencies, not the pkg-config. The libs *are needed* by some of the objects in the archive. Try building, for example, miral-test without them...
[100%] Linking CXX executable ../bin/miral-test lib/libmir- test-assist. a(executable_ path.cpp. o): undefined reference to symbol '_ZN5boost6syst em15system_ categoryEv' x86_64- linux-gnu/ libboost_ system. so.1.61. 0: error adding symbols: DSO missing from command line
/usr/bin/ld: /usr/local/
//usr/lib/