On Sun, Jan 11, 2026 at 08:37:08PM +0100, Patrice Dumas wrote: > On Sun, Jan 11, 2026 at 11:25:12AM +0000, Gavin Smith wrote: > > I'm trying to understand the build system better but I want to say initially > > that Texinfo should have probably built under your initial setup. > > To start with, we have backup pure Perl code that should be able to > > run instead. > > > > Also, it is possible that libperl is not even needed for the native code > > (XS) > > extension modules. There is this comment in tta/configure.ac: > > > > # Test for linking against libperl. Used to set LIBPERL_LINK conditional > > # which is used for SWIG interface in swig/Makefile.am. > > # Having XS enabled and the Perl headers does not ensure that it is > > # possible to link against libperl as the .so/.a may not be present. > > # Linking against libperl is not needed to load XS extensions on some > > # platforms, the Perl executable probably providing the needed symbols, > > # but it is needed when linking with non-undefined, and when there is > > # no Perl executable involved. > > > > We could try to fix this test not to succeed if only libperl.a is > > available, not > > libperl.so. > > I agree. The test already links against libperl, but not in the same > setup as the code that failed, as libtool is used in the actual code, > not in the test. I recall that it was not easy to do a test involving > libtool, as libtool is configured too. That's why there is the > tta/perl/CheckXS directory with a "full" project setup to be able to check > with libtool. Maybe we have no other choice than to do something > similar for the libperl link test.
As far as I understand, there has been some progress on this issue, as you (Patrice) made changes to remove perllibs from the linking flags. In the report from Carl Hansen, this changes the flags from -lperl -lpthread -ldl -lm -lcrypt -lutil -lc to just -lperl meaning there is less to break. Without more detail on how this build failed (what distribution was used, how Perl was built, etc.), I don't know how to make any more progress on this issue. In theory we should be able to check for whatever is needed in libperl in the configure check. It might not be necessary to do the linking with libtool if we understood the issue better. I'd reiterate that if any parts of the code depend on libperl, we shouldn't build them if libperl is not available or doesn't work.
