AlfC <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
>> Why do you think it's a good idea to be able to do this?
>
> For example, suppose that you write a header file that uses
> boost_filesystem internally, from them on you will need *always* to
> compile with the option -lboost_filesystem.
Yes. So you add it to your makefile and go on with your life.
> Let's say that you give your source code that is "script-like" to
> someone else
I have no clue what a 'script-like source code' is.
> , she should know implementation details about some
> library called boost_filesystem that she never heard about and worst ,
No, she doesn't. She only needs to know that your source depends
on the Boost library, and therefore she should install 'boost-devel'
package, and use the Makefile you supplied to build your sources.
> the compilation gives awful errors messages about linking
If she doesn't have Boost installed, the compilation will give
awful errors about compiling. Should gcc be able to also:
#install_boost_if_necessary
#add_correct_include_flags
#add_correct_define_flags
to 'automagically' resolve compilation problems as well?
> besides it is not standard, why do you think it is a *bad* idea to be
> able to do this?
It's a bad idea because it hides the fact that you need libboost
inside the object file. UNIX users to do not expect this command:
gcc main.o
to 'magically' search for any library besides libc.
It's also a bad idea because UNIX linkers do not use $LIB environment
variable to find libraries. If you need libboost.so, and there are
4 different versions installed on the system, which one should the
linker pick? The one in /usr/lib may not be the right one.
It's also a bad idea because users will be confused when main.o
needs one version of libboost, but foo.o needs another (possibly
incompatible) version. I see this on windows all the time:
link foo.obj bar.lib zork.lib /nodefaultlib:libc.lib
/nodefaultlib:libcmt.lib /nodefaultlib:libcd.lib msvcrt.lib
Clearly, the user of this command is begging the linker to "just
please, please link that damned executable so I can go on with
my life".
Cheers,
--
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