Q:

R on Ubuntu 16.04: rgl won't install proper

Trying to install rgl onto R 3.4.4, Ubuntu 16.04, but it's not playing nice:
Warning in install.packages :
  installation of package ‘rgl’ had non-zero exit status

I've tried every fix that every post has suggested. Nothing improved.
Am I overlooking something? Any ideas?
Version info:
> version
platform       x86_64-pc-linux-gnu         
arch           x86_64                      
os             linux-gnu                   
system         x86_64, linux-gnu           
status                                     
major          3                           
minor          4.4                         
year           2018                        
month          03                          
day            15                          
svn rev        74408                       
language       R                           
version.string R version 3.4.4 (2018-03-15)
nickname       Someone to Lean On   

Here is the full output:
> install.packages("rgl")
Installing package into ‘/home/brandon/R/x86_64-pc-linux-gnu-library/3.4’
(as ‘lib’ is unspecified)
trying URL 'https://cloud.r-project.org/src/contrib/rgl_0.99.16.tar.gz'
Content type 'application/x-gzip' length 3058794 bytes (2.9 MB)
==================================================
downloaded 2.9 MB

* installing *source* package ‘rgl’ ...
** package ‘rgl’ successfully unpacked and MD5 sums checked
checking for gcc... gcc -std=gnu99
checking whether the C compiler works... yes
checking for C compiler default output file name... a.out
checking for suffix of executables... 
checking whether we are cross compiling... no
checking for suffix of object files... o
checking whether we are using the GNU C compiler... yes
checking whether gcc -std=gnu99 accepts -g... yes
checking for gcc -std=gnu99 option to accept ISO C89... none needed
checking how to run the C preprocessor... gcc -std=gnu99 -E
checking for gcc... (cached) gcc -std=gnu99
checking whether we are using the GNU C compiler... (cached) yes
checking whether gcc -std=gnu99 accepts -g... (cached) yes
checking for gcc -std=gnu99 option to accept ISO C89... (cached) none needed
checking for libpng-config... yes
configure: using libpng-config
configure: using libpng dynamic linkage
checking for X... libraries , headers 
checking GL/gl.h usability... yes
checking GL/gl.h presence... yes
checking for GL/gl.h... yes
checking GL/glu.h usability... yes
checking GL/glu.h presence... yes
checking for GL/glu.h... yes
checking for glEnd in -lGL... yes
checking for gluProject in -lGLU... yes
checking for pkg-config... yes
Package freetype2 was not found in the pkg-config search path.
Perhaps you should add the directory containing `freetype2.pc'
to the PKG_CONFIG_PATH environment variable
No package 'freetype2' found
Package freetype2 was not found in the pkg-config search path.
Perhaps you should add the directory containing `freetype2.pc'
to the PKG_CONFIG_PATH environment variable
No package 'freetype2' found
configure: using Freetype and FTGL
configure: creating ./config.status
config.status: creating src/Makevars
** libs
g++  -I/usr/share/R/include -DNDEBUG -DHAVE_PNG_H -I/usr/include/libpng12 -DHAVE_FREETYPE -Iext/ftgl  -Iext     -fpic  -g -O2 -fstack-protector-strong -Wformat -Werror=format-security -Wdate-time -D_FORTIFY_SOURCE=2 -g  -c ABCLineSet.cpp -o ABCLineSet.o
g++  -I/usr/share/R/include -DNDEBUG -DHAVE_PNG_H -I/usr/include/libpng12 -DHAVE_FREETYPE -Iext/ftgl  -Iext     -fpic  -g -O2 -fstack-protector-strong -Wformat -Werror=format-security -Wdate-time -D_FORTIFY_SOURCE=2 -g  -c BBoxDeco.cpp -o BBoxDeco.o
In file included from glgui.h:12:0,
                 from BBoxDeco.cpp:4:
ext/ftgl/FTGL/ftgl.h:32:22: fatal error: ft2build.h: No such file or directory
compilation terminated.
/usr/lib/R/etc/Makeconf:168: recipe for target 'BBoxDeco.o' failed
make: *** [BBoxDeco.o] Error 1
ERROR: compilation failed for package ‘rgl’
* removing ‘/home/brandon/R/x86_64-pc-linux-gnu-library/3.4/rgl’
Warning in install.packages :
  installation of package ‘rgl’ had non-zero exit status

The downloaded source packages are in
    ‘/tmp/RtmpWrldzM/downloaded_packages’
> # Spinning 3D scatterplot
> # Install and load rgl package
> install.packages("rgl")
Installing package into ‘/home/brandon/R/x86_64-pc-linux-gnu-library/3.4’
(as ‘lib’ is unspecified)
trying URL 'https://cloud.r-project.org/src/contrib/rgl_0.99.16.tar.gz'
Content type 'application/x-gzip' length 3058794 bytes (2.9 MB)
==================================================
downloaded 2.9 MB

* installing *source* package ‘rgl’ ...
** package ‘rgl’ successfully unpacked and MD5 sums checked
checking for gcc... gcc -std=gnu99
checking whether the C compiler works... yes
checking for C compiler default output file name... a.out
checking for suffix of executables... 
checking whether we are cross compiling... no
checking for suffix of object files... o
checking whether we are using the GNU C compiler... yes
checking whether gcc -std=gnu99 accepts -g... yes
checking for gcc -std=gnu99 option to accept ISO C89... none needed
checking how to run the C preprocessor... gcc -std=gnu99 -E
checking for gcc... (cached) gcc -std=gnu99
checking whether we are using the GNU C compiler... (cached) yes
checking whether gcc -std=gnu99 accepts -g... (cached) yes
checking for gcc -std=gnu99 option to accept ISO C89... (cached) none needed
checking for libpng-config... yes
configure: using libpng-config
configure: using libpng dynamic linkage
checking for X... libraries , headers 
checking GL/gl.h usability... yes
checking GL/gl.h presence... yes
checking for GL/gl.h... yes
checking GL/glu.h usability... yes
checking GL/glu.h presence... yes
checking for GL/glu.h... yes
checking for glEnd in -lGL... yes
checking for gluProject in -lGLU... yes
checking for pkg-config... yes
Package freetype2 was not found in the pkg-config search path.
Perhaps you should add the directory containing `freetype2.pc'
to the PKG_CONFIG_PATH environment variable
No package 'freetype2' found
Package freetype2 was not found in the pkg-config search path.
Perhaps you should add the directory containing `freetype2.pc'
to the PKG_CONFIG_PATH environment variable
No package 'freetype2' found
configure: using Freetype and FTGL
configure: creating ./config.status
config.status: creating src/Makevars
** libs
g++  -I/usr/share/R/include -DNDEBUG -DHAVE_PNG_H -I/usr/include/libpng12 -DHAVE_FREETYPE -Iext/ftgl  -Iext     -fpic  -g -O2 -fstack-protector-strong -Wformat -Werror=format-security -Wdate-time -D_FORTIFY_SOURCE=2 -g  -c ABCLineSet.cpp -o ABCLineSet.o
g++  -I/usr/share/R/include -DNDEBUG -DHAVE_PNG_H -I/usr/include/libpng12 -DHAVE_FREETYPE -Iext/ftgl  -Iext     -fpic  -g -O2 -fstack-protector-strong -Wformat -Werror=format-security -Wdate-time -D_FORTIFY_SOURCE=2 -g  -c BBoxDeco.cpp -o BBoxDeco.o
In file included from glgui.h:12:0,
                 from BBoxDeco.cpp:4:
ext/ftgl/FTGL/ftgl.h:32:22: fatal error: ft2build.h: No such file or directory
compilation terminated.
/usr/lib/R/etc/Makeconf:168: recipe for target 'BBoxDeco.o' failed
make: *** [BBoxDeco.o] Error 1
ERROR: compilation failed for package ‘rgl’
* removing ‘/home/brandon/R/x86_64-pc-linux-gnu-library/3.4/rgl’
Warning in install.packages :
  installation of package ‘rgl’ had non-zero exit status

The downloaded source packages are in
    ‘/tmp/RtmpWrldzM/downloaded_packages’

EDIT: After installing libftgl2 I get 
install.packages("rgl")
Installing package into ‘/home/brandon/R/x86_64-pc-linux-gnu-library/3.4’
(as ‘lib’ is unspecified)
trying URL 'https://cloud.r-project.org/src/contrib/rgl_0.99.16.tar.gz'
Content type 'application/x-gzip' length 3058794 bytes (2.9 MB)
==================================================
downloaded 2.9 MB

* installing *source* package ‘rgl’ ...
** package ‘rgl’ successfully unpacked and MD5 sums checked
checking for gcc... gcc -std=gnu99
checking whether the C compiler works... yes
checking for C compiler default output file name... a.out
checking for suffix of executables... 
checking whether we are cross compiling... no
checking for suffix of object files... o
checking whether we are using the GNU C compiler... yes
checking whether gcc -std=gnu99 accepts -g... yes
checking for gcc -std=gnu99 option to accept ISO C89... none needed
checking how to run the C preprocessor... gcc -std=gnu99 -E
checking for gcc... (cached) gcc -std=gnu99
checking whether we are using the GNU C compiler... (cached) yes
checking whether gcc -std=gnu99 accepts -g... (cached) yes
checking for gcc -std=gnu99 option to accept ISO C89... (cached) none needed
checking for libpng-config... yes
configure: using libpng-config
configure: using libpng dynamic linkage
checking for X... libraries , headers 
checking GL/gl.h usability... yes
checking GL/gl.h presence... yes
checking for GL/gl.h... yes
checking GL/glu.h usability... yes
checking GL/glu.h presence... yes
checking for GL/glu.h... yes
checking for glEnd in -lGL... yes
checking for gluProject in -lGLU... yes
checking for pkg-config... yes
Package freetype2 was not found in the pkg-config search path.
Perhaps you should add the directory containing `freetype2.pc'
to the PKG_CONFIG_PATH environment variable
No package 'freetype2' found
Package freetype2 was not found in the pkg-config search path.
Perhaps you should add the directory containing `freetype2.pc'
to the PKG_CONFIG_PATH environment variable
No package 'freetype2' found
configure: using Freetype and FTGL
configure: creating ./config.status
config.status: creating src/Makevars
** libs
g++  -I/usr/share/R/include -DNDEBUG -DHAVE_PNG_H -I/usr/include/libpng12 -DHAVE_FREETYPE -Iext/ftgl  -Iext     -fpic  -g -O2 -fstack-protector-strong -Wformat -Werror=format-security -Wdate-time -D_FORTIFY_SOURCE=2 -g  -c ABCLineSet.cpp -o ABCLineSet.o
g++  -I/usr/share/R/include -DNDEBUG -DHAVE_PNG_H -I/usr/include/libpng12 -DHAVE_FREETYPE -Iext/ftgl  -Iext     -fpic  -g -O2 -fstack-protector-strong -Wformat -Werror=format-security -Wdate-time -D_FORTIFY_SOURCE=2 -g  -c BBoxDeco.cpp -o BBoxDeco.o
In file included from glgui.h:12:0,
                 from BBoxDeco.cpp:4:
ext/ftgl/FTGL/ftgl.h:32:22: fatal error: ft2build.h: No such file or directory
compilation terminated.
/usr/lib/R/etc/Makeconf:168: recipe for target 'BBoxDeco.o' failed
make: *** [BBoxDeco.o] Error 1
ERROR: compilation failed for package ‘rgl’
* removing ‘/home/brandon/R/x86_64-pc-linux-gnu-library/3.4/rgl’
Warning in install.packages :
  installation of package ‘rgl’ had non-zero exit status

The downloaded source packages are in
    ‘/tmp/Rtmpv0TEaW/downloaded_packages’

Edit2:  After installing the PPA and packages suggested by Rachit Kinger, I'm still not getting a working rgl.
Output:
> install.packages("rgl")
Installing package into ‘/home/brandon/R/x86_64-pc-linux-gnu-library/3.4’
(as ‘lib’ is unspecified)
trying URL 'https://cloud.r-project.org/src/contrib/rgl_0.99.16.tar.gz'
Content type 'application/x-gzip' length 3058794 bytes (2.9 MB)
==================================================
downloaded 2.9 MB

* installing *source* package ‘rgl’ ...
** package ‘rgl’ successfully unpacked and MD5 sums checked
checking for gcc... gcc -std=gnu99
checking whether the C compiler works... yes
checking for C compiler default output file name... a.out
checking for suffix of executables... 
checking whether we are cross compiling... no
checking for suffix of object files... o
checking whether we are using the GNU C compiler... yes
checking whether gcc -std=gnu99 accepts -g... yes
checking for gcc -std=gnu99 option to accept ISO C89... none needed
checking how to run the C preprocessor... gcc -std=gnu99 -E
checking for gcc... (cached) gcc -std=gnu99
checking whether we are using the GNU C compiler... (cached) yes
checking whether gcc -std=gnu99 accepts -g... (cached) yes
checking for gcc -std=gnu99 option to accept ISO C89... (cached) none needed
checking for libpng-config... yes
configure: using libpng-config
configure: using libpng dynamic linkage
checking for X... libraries , headers 
checking GL/gl.h usability... yes
checking GL/gl.h presence... yes
checking for GL/gl.h... yes
checking GL/glu.h usability... yes
checking GL/glu.h presence... yes
checking for GL/glu.h... yes
checking for glEnd in -lGL... yes
checking for gluProject in -lGLU... yes
checking for pkg-config... yes
Package freetype2 was not found in the pkg-config search path.
Perhaps you should add the directory containing `freetype2.pc'
to the PKG_CONFIG_PATH environment variable
No package 'freetype2' found
Package freetype2 was not found in the pkg-config search path.
Perhaps you should add the directory containing `freetype2.pc'
to the PKG_CONFIG_PATH environment variable
No package 'freetype2' found
configure: using Freetype and FTGL
configure: creating ./config.status
config.status: creating src/Makevars
** libs
g++  -I/usr/share/R/include -DNDEBUG -DHAVE_PNG_H -I/usr/include/libpng12 -DHAVE_FREETYPE -Iext/ftgl  -Iext     -fpic  -g -O2 -fstack-protector-strong -Wformat -Werror=format-security -Wdate-time -D_FORTIFY_SOURCE=2 -g  -c ABCLineSet.cpp -o ABCLineSet.o
g++  -I/usr/share/R/include -DNDEBUG -DHAVE_PNG_H -I/usr/include/libpng12 -DHAVE_FREETYPE -Iext/ftgl  -Iext     -fpic  -g -O2 -fstack-protector-strong -Wformat -Werror=format-security -Wdate-time -D_FORTIFY_SOURCE=2 -g  -c BBoxDeco.cpp -o BBoxDeco.o
In file included from glgui.h:12:0,
                 from BBoxDeco.cpp:4:
ext/ftgl/FTGL/ftgl.h:32:22: fatal error: ft2build.h: No such file or directory
compilation terminated.
/usr/lib/R/etc/Makeconf:168: recipe for target 'BBoxDeco.o' failed
make: *** [BBoxDeco.o] Error 1
ERROR: compilation failed for package ‘rgl’
* removing ‘/home/brandon/R/x86_64-pc-linux-gnu-library/3.4/rgl’
Warning in install.packages :
  installation of package ‘rgl’ had non-zero exit status

The downloaded source packages are in
    ‘/tmp/RtmpGobsUA/downloaded_packages’

A:

Solution: 
RGL package for R compile error
Freetype is optional. Disabling it is the least hassles solution.
install.packages("rgl", repo="http://cran.r-project.org", configure.args="--disable-ftgl")

