Re: MPIR

[Doug Torrance <douglas.a.torrance@gmail.com>]

On 03/13/2015 02:20 PM, Tobias Hansen wrote:

> Before this is uploaded we should maybe talk about what it means to have
> two libraries which define the same symbols around. I'm not totally sure
> about this but this is what I think the problem is:
>
> Let's say we have gmp and mpir in Debian and after a while there is some
> library A which links agains mpir. Another library B links against gmp.
> Now you want to link another program (say Macaulay2 or Sage) against A
> and B, your program is then linked to gmp and mpir which define the same
> symbols. This sounds like trouble. The only way to give maintainers the
> choice whether to use gmp or mpir is to provide two versions of more and
> more libraries.
>
> Do you know anything about how to get around this problem? Would you try
> to get mpir versions of all the Macaulay2 dependencies that use gmp/mpir
> into Debian?

Excellent points!  I admit that I didn't really think of this.  It seems 
similar to the ffmpeg/libav situation, and if I recall from a discussion 
on debian-devel a few months ago, the ffmpeg maintainers feel that it 
should be possible for those two to coexist in Debian. Perhaps their 
methods could work here.

I'll also contact upstream and see if they can provide any insight.

> On the other hand, why can't Macaulay2 use gmp?

Definitely a possibility.  I appreciate the comments!

Doug