[ale] Topic for discussion

Christopher Fowler cfowler at outpostsentinel.com
Thu Oct 30 20:25:26 EST 2003


On Thu, Oct 30, 2003 at 08:16:08PM -0500, Doug McNash wrote:
> I guess it depends on how you define linking.
> 
> If "linking" is defined as symbol resolution then it 
> occurs at compile time (ld) or at runtime (dlopen()).  I 
> believe that there is another level of indirection on the 
> dynamic linking whereas the static linking modifies the 
> object.  

One good example would be in programs that allow plug-ins.  If
dlopen() was considered "linking" then one can not write a 
plug-in for GIMP unless it was under the GPL like Gimp.  I'm
not sure what license GIMP is under.


Maybe there are other ways to this. Using IPC to somehow communicate
to the symbol to execute code in that function but not using any
form of linking.



> 
> On Thu, 30 Oct 2003 19:58:38 -0500
>  Christopher Fowler <cfowler at outpostsentinel.com> wrote:
> >On Thu, Oct 30, 2003 at 07:50:09PM -0500, Doug McNash 
> >wrote:
> >>>Does use of dlopen() == Linking?
> >
> >To me, linking happens at compile time.  When the program
> >is actually build.  An executable that uses dlopen() can 
> >still
> >function without the symbol it is requesting.  It can be 
> >programmed
> >to terminate or to do something else.
> >
> --
> Doug McNash <dmcnash at yahoo.com>
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