[Xorg] shared vs static libraries

[Daniel Stone]

On Wed, 2004-08-11 at 04:59, Roland Mainz wrote:
> Daniel Stone wrote:
> > Changing API is no excuse for not having a shared library; you change
> > the API and bump the soname, it's as simple as that. If you change the
> > API in a static library, people still need to change their code anyway.
> > 
> > Change, bump.
> 
> No, that's not possible. We would have to gurantee backwards
> compatibility to the old version (at least the commercial Unices may
> require that), either via lots of #ifdef in the code or via storing the
> old code in a seperate dir. The mess with libXaw6 vs. libXaw7 is a good
> example of this nightmare.
> Right now both APIs are NOT stable and should NOT be shipped as shared
> libraries for X11R6.8.0. Otherwise the pain will be much bigger than the
> benefit.

If you need to change the code when it's a static lib, then you need to
change the code when it's a shared library. It's actually quite easy to
retain library backwards compatibility with dynamic libraries.

Static libraries are not the solution. It fixes a symptom of your
problem, rather than the problem itself.
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: signature.asc
Type: application/pgp-signature
Size: 189 bytes
Desc: This is a digitally signed message part
URL: <http://lists.x.org/archives/xorg/attachments/20040811/ce51e887/attachment.pgp>