Subject: Re: dynamic linker
To: NetBSD User's Discussion List <netbsd-users@netbsd.org>
From: None <kpneal@pobox.com>
List: netbsd-users
Date: 03/19/2002 19:18:30
On Wed, Mar 20, 2002 at 02:04:26AM +0100, Arto Huusko wrote:
> At least Amiga libraries, in general, guaranteed one thing: they
> gave you API and ABI, and it worked from 1985 to 199?, or, actually
> 2002. If something had to change, the library name (had to) changed,
> not the just the version.
> 
> 
> Hmm... what was my point? Oh, I guess I am just ranting, but
> somehow I felt this was a necessary point to make. The recompilation
> and installation of ~_everything_ made me a bit edgy[2]. And anyway,
> the Amiga library system (and friends) is great.

Amusingly, the OpenLibrary call originally didn't take a version number
argument. The first release of AmigaOS had OpenLibrary(char *libname).
The 1.1 release had OldOpenLibrary(char *libname) and 
OpenLibrary(char *libname, int version) as a new function. 

I still miss AmigaOS. 

Honestly, though, I don't know why Unix shared libraries can't be as
backwards compatible as Amiga libraries. I think it just takes effort.
Oops.
-- 
"A method for inducing cats to exercise consists of directing a beam of
invisible light produced by a hand-held laser apparatus onto the floor ...
in the vicinity of the cat, then moving the laser ... in an irregular way
fascinating to cats,..." -- US patent 5443036, "Method of exercising a cat"