Subject: bug#30402: closed (Re: bug#30402: ldconfig confusion)

From: [email-masked] (GNU bug Tracking System)
Date: Fri, 16 May 2025 16:29:02 +0000

Your bug report

#30402: ldconfig confusion

which was filed against the libtool package, has been closed.

The explanation is attached below, along with your original report.
If you require more details, please reply to [email-masked].

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30402: https://debbugs.gnu.org/cgi/bugreport.cgi?bug=30402
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Subject: Re: bug#30402: ldconfig confusion
From: Ileana Dumitrescu <[email-masked]>
To: [email-masked]
Cc: Reuben Thomas <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 16 May 2025 19:28:34 +0300
List-Id: <debbugs-submit.debbugs.gnu.org>

A documentation patch has been applied to the development branch [1].

[1] 
https://git.savannah.gnu.org/cgit/libtool.git/commit/?h=development&id=ad964ee1f5382075b195313d969fb0fe6d83c8e9

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Ileana Dumitrescu

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Subject: ldconfig confusion
From: Reuben Thomas <[email-masked]>
To: [email-masked]
Date: Fri, 9 Feb 2018 13:10:43 +0000
List-Id: <debbugs-submit.debbugs.gnu.org>

I just noticed that on my GNU/Linux system (and on stock Ubuntu 14.04,
which is where I first encountered this), I need to run

ldconfig

after installing shared libraries built with libtool. I was confused at
first, because libtool itself runs

ldconfig -n $(libdir)

But I guess because this does not update the cache, it doesn't make the
library available.

I hadn't noticed this before because normally when I'm building code on my
own system, I install it in my home directory, with a suitable setting of
LD_LIBRARY_PATH; no ldconfig call is needed.

The libtool manual says:

  7. The install 'Makefile' target should warn the package installer to
     set the proper environment variables ('LD_LIBRARY_PATH' or
     equivalent), or run 'ldconfig'.

But libtool does not warn me that I (may) need to run ldconfig.

In 1997, commit 7f9b4e50 for libtool version 0.6b, the way of running
ldconfig was changed from running without "-n" to running with "-n". The
ChangeLog entry (I think it is for the same change, though it occurs months
later in commit 41ced2149):

+       * ltconfig.in (finish_cmds): Change back to using `ldconfig -n'.
+       This makes Linux behave like other systems, which is more in line
+       with what libtool needs.

I'm not sure what it means by "what libtool needs" here, but perhaps 20
years later it's worth reconsidering this (and simply removing the -n flag
on Linux again)? Or, if it's not possible, at least warn the user that it
may be necessary to run ldconfig.

I'm using libtool version 2.4.6, but I can't see that anything has changed
in current git in this respect.​​

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