mmm static linking [LWN.net]

mmm static linking

Posted Aug 5, 2004 14:30 UTC (Thu) by uwaucs (subscriber, #6160)
In reply to: mmm static linking by stuart
Parent article: LSB 2.0 and C++

No, glibc likes to dlopen things like libnss even when statically compiled, which then breaks on a more recent glibc. Try a running a binary statically compiled on a Debian potato system on unstable and you'll see what I mean.

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mmm static linking

Posted Aug 5, 2004 23:42 UTC (Thu) by AnswerGuy (subscriber, #1256) [Link]

dlopen() is different than linking and is isolated and specific classes of library. So the PAM and NSS, the perl, Python, and Apache binary modules and things of that nature are affected. Obviously the PAM and NSS are the biggest issues here.

Clearly if you fully statically linked specific PAM and NSS modules into your application you'd no longer support the /etc/pam.d and /etc/nsswitch.conf interfaces --- you'd be locked into specific authentication modes and services.

That's not impossible for a highly vertical turn-key system; but it runs counter to the decade long trend in open systems management. It's more of a market and social problem than a pure technical one.

JimD