Re: compiling

["Christopher C. Chimelis" <chris@debian.org>]

On Sun, 5 Nov 2000, Kerstin Hoef-Emden wrote:

> I am referring to /usr/bin/ldd, it did not have manpages. I was
> confused, because there is as well a /usr/bin/ld.

All that ldd does is print shared library dependencies.  The true dynamic
linker is ld-linux.so.  Quite a few people get that confused, btw.

> I found the error, I had a typo in the Makefile linker line. 

That's good news :-)  Yes, frequently, you'll see those kinds of problems
caused by Makefile errors or Tru64-isms (since most code assumes that, if
you're compiling on Alpha, you're running Digital UNIX, or Tru64).

> Thank you for your help. As soon as something struggles me or makes me
> curious, I will pester you with it! ;-)

Ok :-)

> BTW, what is the meaning of this -taso thing? Why is it necessary to
> reorient a binary to a 32 bit space?

Sometimes, it makes it easier to compile and run huge software projects
that are written with 32-bit architectures in mind (the original Netscape
code, for example).  The code will often do pointer arithmetic and other
dangerous things because they make assumptions about pointer size and
often the sizes of some of the standard types ('long' being the most
frequently assumed type other than a pointer).  If the source code is so
large that it would be tough or take too long to properly modify the code
to work on 64-bit archs, many people would rather have the software
compile as if it were on a 32-bit arch.  I, personally, think that the
-taso flag is frequently used as an excuse not to do the work of porting
properly, but for the beginner or non-programmer, it can at least
sometimes give them a working binary.

> But as you see, before trying to set up a cross compiler, I should first
> learn more about a standard compiler on a system.

It helps, believe me.  I have a few cross-compilers installed on my system
(mostly MIPS-related, since I have an Indy also).  Once you get used to
working with one, you'll realise that it just seems difficult at first :-)

C