Why doesn't Guix build static libraries?

Why doesn't Guix build static libraries?

[Tim Lee]

I noticed that many C and C++ libraries in Guix are built with the
--disable-static option. Why are static libraries excluded from Guix?

Re: Why doesn't Guix build static libraries?

[Tobias Geerinckx-Rice]

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Tim,

Tim Lee 写道：
> I noticed that many C and C++ libraries in Guix are built with 
> the
> --disable-static option. Why are static libraries excluded from 
> Guix?

I'll speak for myself: I remove static .a libraries whenever 
they're not obviously required by other software in Guix.  If 
another package were to require them, I'd first try to fix it to 
link dynamically.

Static linking provides no serious advantages and at least one 
serious disadvantage: it's invisible to grafting.  If A statically 
links to B, grafting B will leave A untouched and vulnerable.

My worry is that leaving .a files around will cause some build 
systems to silently prefer them to the .so and link statically.  I 
can't remember the name of the packages, but this does happen.

Static linking is useful in tightly-controlled environments where 
space is at a premium, i.e., the Guix System initrd.  That's why 
Guix has packages like bcachefs-tools-static.  It's just made very 
explicit.

Kind regards,

T G-R

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Re: Why doesn't Guix build static libraries?

[Denis 'GNUtoo' Carikli]

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On Sun, 31 Oct 2021 12:48:19 +0100
Tobias Geerinckx-Rice <me@tobias.gr> wrote:
> My worry is that leaving .a files around will cause some build 
> systems to silently prefer them to the .so and link statically.  I 
> can't remember the name of the packages, but this does happen.
Could it also do that when the static libraries are split in their
own package/derivation like openssl:static for instance?

Denis.

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Re: Why doesn't Guix build static libraries?

[Tobias Geerinckx-Rice]

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Denis 'GNUtoo' Carikli 写道：
> Could it also do that when the static libraries are split in 
> their
> own package/derivation like openssl:static for instance?

Nope.

Kind regards,

T G-R

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