Alexander Haley wrote: [...]
> What is to stop me from telling glibc to install itself into > /usr/weird/path/foo and gcc into /bar/zap/ .. and then somehow > configuring them to understand their relationship? Is that even > feasible? Would doing this somehow create a deeper understanding (for > me) of how gcc and glibc fit together? Nothing should prevent you from doing that, which I am aware of. [...] > Basically, the fundamental thing that bugs me is ... I type 'make > install' and scads of files arrive on the file system ... and I really > don't quite know their role, purpose or importance ... Do I really > need to know the purpose of each and every library file that is > installed? Probably not .. but, I am irked that I'm typing 'make > install' and just crossing my fingers that the system is getting it > right .... (of course the system often gets it right .. but does it > teach me? no. or at least, not yet.) What do you want to learn from it? Essentially, this particular question is just a matter of organization. There COULD be just one big library containing everything anyone could ever want in a Standad C Library, and the kitchen sink, as well. However, not many C programs use, for example, the arcsine function. So, the math related functions are collected together into a library of related functions. There is no compelling reason for doing that. It's for the convenience of the maintainers of the libraries. The fellow who knows how best to write a super fast strlen(.) may not be the one who knows best how to write a fast efficient and accurate asin(.) function, and vice versa. So, the library gets split up into "related" pieces. It makes it less unweildy. (Weird. It seems like I should be saying "It makes it more weildy", but that isn't the idiom. Anyway...) Mike -- p="p=%c%s%c;main(){printf(p,34,p,34);}";main(){printf(p,34,p,34);} Oppose globalization and One World Governments like the UN. This message made from 100% recycled bits. You have found the bank of Larn. I speak only for myself, and I am unanimous in that! -- http://linuxfromscratch.org/mailman/listinfo/lfs-support FAQ: http://www.linuxfromscratch.org/lfs/faq.html Unsubscribe: See the above information page