Re: -rpath with libtool and Debian Linux
On Wed, Jan 27, 1999 at 17:07:30 -0200, Alexandre Oliva wrote:
> You might have included my suggestion to prevent having to move libraries
> in the first place: creating a libc6-specific directory right now, instead
> of installing libraries in /usr/lib and having to move them into another
> directory when libc7 should be released.
I'm sorry, but this is IMHO completely backwards. On Linux systems, there is
nothing wrong with moving libraries around as the need arises. Having
libtool default to -rpath is what's causing problems.
I've seen one too many instances of "<foo> crashes on Debian" that turned
out to be "<foo> is a libc5 binary with an RPATH of /usr/X11R6/lib" which on
any reasonably up to date Debian system contains libc6 X libraries.
The X example also shows that the problem isn't limited to /usr/lib either.
What's next? /usr/local/lib/libc6 ?
> > However, Alexandre Oliva <oliva@dcc.unicamp.br> brings up an important
> > point: -rpath is necessary if one is installing libraries and binaries
> > linked to those libraries in one's home directory,
That is a special case. The default should be sane for regular cases.
> > or if your Unix has no support for library search paths via environment
> > variables like Linux's LD_LIBRARY_PATH.
While I appreciate concerns about supporting less fortunate operating
environments, I don't think their existence should hold us back from doing
the right thing on Linux.
> In general, I feel that moving libraries around is a very bad idea,
> because it will lead to failure most of the times, and that's why I don't
> feel libtool should help people doing that.
I see no reason why moving libraries around is a bad idea. I see defaulting
to -rpath as a bad idea, which breaks moving libraries around.
Ray
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