[Spread-users] autoconf... updated (3.16.2)

[Theo Schlossnagle]

On Monday, September 9, 2002, at 06:28 , Joshua Goodall wrote:
> a) If you're going to build the shlibs, why not dynamically link
>    spuser/spflooder ?

Thanks for bringing this to my attention.  No good reason.  That should 
be added.  This was an oversight.  (but not s show stopper)

> b) How about lib(t)spread.so rather than lib(t)sp.so ?
>    There seems to be a strong trend towards that naming. In
>    particular, when I turn on .so installation for the FreeBSD
>    package, it will only be libspread because of the conflict.

I think that is a great idea.  But here is the reason:

Because this patch adds autoconf support.  It does not make arbitrary 
nomenclature changes.  That argument can be taken up with the person who 
makes those decisions -- I am not him.

> c) Shared library version of 3.16.2 is contraindicated.  Conventionally,
>    shlib revision numbers have nothing to do with the version of
>    the package from which they derived.  In fact, doing so dooms
>    the primary use of having shlib versions at all: indicating and
>    enforcing a change of ABI; it also means that an application
>    compiled against 3.16.2 will need rebuilding when 3.17 comes
>    out, even if the library interface is unchanged (thus negating
>    a major advantage of shared libraries!)
>
>    Some linkers will also ignore the .2 part.
>
>    I recommend starting with libspread.so.1 and only bumping the
>    major version when a backwards-incompatible change is made to
>    the ABI (e.g. removing a call).

Because I was told that if there is a change in the minor release 
number, there will be a change in the ABI.  Whether or not this is true, 
is of no concern to me.  When writing patches of this size, the only way 
to even be eligible for acceptance is to "color within the lines".

I have nothing against using .1 and then .2, etc.   In fact I realize it 
as a standard.  However, that should be the job of Spread's maintainers 
if this patch were to be accepted.

--
Theo Schlossnagle
Principal Consultant
OmniTI Computer Consulting, Inc. -- http://www.omniti.com/
Phone:  +1 301 776 6376       Fax:  +1 410 880 4879
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