Re: new module 'ldd'

[Bruno Haible]

[redirected to bug-libtool, from bug-gnulib]
Ralf Wildenhues wrote:

> > The fact that a libtool created "program" is not actually a program but a
> > script, is a problem of libtool. Fix that, then we can also use
> > "gdb program" instead of the surprising syntax "libtool gdb program".
>
> Two comments: I have yet to see a proposal how uninstalled programs may
> load uninstalled libraries on all systems, without using a wrapper of
> some sort.

Here is a proposal that works on glibc systems and possibly other systems:
Create the uninstalled program in the current directory, with -rpath
linker options that refer to directories containing uninstalled libraries.

During installation "libtool --mode=install" will have to create a
different executable, with different -rpath options.

This works on glibc systems because the -rpath directories have
precedence over the LD_LIBRARY_PATH directories.

The most important Unix systems (Linux, Solaris, HP-UX, AIX, IRIX, OSF/1,
FreeBSD, OpenBSD, NetBSD) all support -rpath or equivalent for executables.
But on some the precedence is reversed, for example on IA64 HP-UX,
the LD_LIBRARY_PATH is consulted before the embedded rpath. On these
systems my proposal will not work.

> Note on some systems (GNU/Linux/GCC for example) there is
> a trade-off to make wrt. fast-install

Being a developer, I'm asking to make the trade-offs in favour of the
developer's comfort, i.e. optimized for "make", "gdb", and "make check",
at the expense of a slower "make install" :-)

> So, no, I don't acknowledge that as bug, but as (necessary) limitation.

glibc systems are the platforms on which most of us are developing. Isn't
it worth to optimize libtool for these platforms?

> (Your unrelated issue about the last path component of argv[0] starting
> with `lt-' is a different beast: it's a bug I'd like to fix eventually.)

Thanks in advance!

Bruno