Subject: Re: dl* functions on ELF platforms
To: None <tech-toolchain@netbsd.org, tech-userlevel@netbsd.org>
From: T.SHIOZAKI <tshiozak@astec.co.jp>
List: tech-userlevel
Date: 03/01/2000 22:26:51
> > It seems enough for dl* to be defined in libc.so, doesn't it?
> having a libdl.{a,so} would help generally writing platform independent
> programs aswell as custom .so libs that use dl*. sure you can specify the
> defintions to be linked against and included but it would make a much
> cleaner makefile if all platforms handled libdl in a simalar way.

libdl does not always make cleaner Makefile for user programs and
user libraries, since all platforms do not provide libdl.so.
For instance, since FreeBSD-ELF has already included dl* in libc,
it will probably not provide libdl.so forever.
However, libdl will make cleaner Makefile for libc.

There is probably not much difference whether provide libdl or not.
However, I don't prefer to increase the number of libraries, since
it may make maching problem.  If libc depends on libdl, it seems not
necessary to separate into libdl.  And, I guess that if we provide libdl,
then we should change the soname and/or the major revision number of libc.


--
Takuya SHIOZAKI / ASTEC Products, Inc.