Re: [gentoo-dev] [RFC] Dealing with global /usr/bin/libtool use vs CC/CXX etc.

[Fabian Groffen <grobian@gentoo.org>]

[-- Attachment #1: Type: text/plain, Size: 1655 bytes --]

On 10-01-2021 14:34:13 +0100, Michał Górny wrote:
> The vast majority of libtool-based programs use configure script to
> generate libtool.  However, a few non-autoconf packages also use libtool
> by calling system-installed /usr/bin/libtool.  The problem is that this
> libtool hardcodes the values of CC/CXX at its' build time, so unless it
> is rebuilt frequently, packages end up using the stale values.
> The problem is known since 2005 [1] and hasn't been resolved yet.
> 
> I can think of two ways of solving it:
> 
> 1. We could patch system-installed libtool to respect environment
> variables such as CC, CXX, etc.  This will probably require carrying
> a (possibly non-trivial) patch forever.  On the bright side, libtool is
> not exactly a package seeing frequent releases.  I mean, the current
> version is from 2015.
> 
> 2. We could regenerate libtool and force local instance of libtool
> in the packages needing it.  The main advantage of this is that it's
> a no-brainer.  I could make a quick eclass that does configure a local
> instance and prepends it into PATH.
> 
> WDYT?

I would prefer option 2, also because on some systems usr/bin/libtool is
some entirely different tool than GNU libtool.

I remember this being much more of a problem ~15 years ago, so I wonder
do we have an easy way of crafting a list of affected packages, such
that we can see how big the problem actually is nowadays?  I'm thinking
perhaps tinderbox logs or something can reveal /usr/bin/libtool usage
somehow.

Thanks,
Fabian

> [1] https://bugs.gentoo.org/88596


-- 
Fabian Groffen
Gentoo on a different level

[-- Attachment #2: signature.asc --]
[-- Type: application/pgp-signature, Size: 488 bytes --]