File: libkpathsea-dev.README

package info (click to toggle)
texlive-bin 2012.20120628-4
  • links: PTS
  • area: main
  • in suites: wheezy
  • size: 240,500 kB
  • sloc: ansic: 890,229; cpp: 469,960; perl: 73,550; sh: 47,106; makefile: 16,643; python: 8,657; lisp: 6,684; xml: 3,926; lex: 3,791; java: 3,569; pascal: 3,569; yacc: 2,460; exp: 2,031; ruby: 1,415; objc: 1,362; tcl: 631; sed: 522; asm: 435; csh: 46; awk: 30
file content (24 lines) | stat: -rw-r--r-- 1,072 bytes parent folder | download | duplicates (6) 
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
 
Why a new soname of libkpathsea in teTeX 3.0?
---------------------------------------------

We're just quoting Olaf Weber, the author of web2c. The full message can be
found on:
http://lists.debian.org/debian-tetex-maint/2004/03/msg00181.html

"libkpathsea moved from using klibtool (a web2c-specific libtool-like hack)
to libtool. As a result it acquired a new soname.
libkpathsea was not designed to work well as a shared library, and has
numerous flaws in that area -- in particular, too many internals are
exposed, and too much is hard-coded."

Olaf does not expect too many changes in the API of the libkpathsea between
teTeX 2.0.2 and 3.0 so just relinking the programs should be sufficient.
However that is not really predictable.

"So at present my advice is that it's better to be safe than sorry, and
enforce that the version of libkpathsea matches the program's version."

A new redesigned libkpathsea, which is really a shared lib, is on his TODO
list, but he can't say when it will be released.

 -- Frank Kster <frank@debian.org>, Wed Aug 24 12:54:11 2005