On Sun, May 20, 2007 at 09:19:52PM -0500, Steve Greenland wrote: > On 20-May-07, 13:41 (CDT), Wouter Verhelst <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > On Wed, May 09, 2007 at 11:28:49AM -0500, Steve Greenland wrote: > > > On 09-May-07, 04:02 (CDT), Wouter Verhelst <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > I'm not entirely sure about the specifics, and especially not across > > > > architectures; but regardless, doing a PLT lookup is more expensive than > > > > doing a function call to something that was statically linked in. > > > > > > True. Now, does anyone have measurements to show that this has > > > any actual significance in real world code on modern hardware? > > > > I don't see why that would be relevant. We're not providing statically > > linked binaries; we are providing static libraries so that people who > > want them can perform static linking for their own in-house software. > > Why should we spend time and space to provide something that doesn't > do anything useful?[1]
I also once heard an argument that static libraries are easier to maintain. While I disagreed at first, it started to make sense when it was explained that in-house software in /usr/local which does not add dependencies to the package management system easily breaks on upgrades. If you really think dropping static libraries is the best way forward, then I think you should make a case for it that also explains why we do give our users all possible and impossible options by linking our software against every library in sight, while at the same time not providing them with the basic option of compiling their software statically. Moreover, remember that most, if not all, other distributions have it, meaning that newbie-oriented documentation assumes it'll work, and that not providing it for no good reason will probably only serve to annoy and confuse the user. And that's said with my m68k buildd admin hat, uh, hmm. Let's say "right next to me" (rather than "on"). -- Shaw's Principle: Build a system that even a fool can use, and only a fool will want to use it. -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]