Hi Jeremy, On Mon, 2024 Aug 12 10:46-04:00, Jeremy Bícha wrote: > The vast majority of libraries packaged in Debian do not include .a files.
Most e.g. Rust library packages don't, sure. But normal C/C++ lib*-dev packages typically include a static library. > It sounds to me like your real issue is that you are attempting to use > newer libraries on a distro that doesn't provide those libraries. Indeed, this is a good use case for static libraries. > You have some additional options beyond the workaround you > implemented: > > - Encourage your users to switch to Snap or Flatpak for much easier > dependency handling for older distros. This is what Canonical did with > Firefox, Chromium, and Thunderbird I am providing .deb packages of those applications for users who don't want to deal with Snap or Flatpak. Including myself :) > - Also package the libraries you need in a PPA or similar repository. > This is a bit more complex to handle the initial user install. You're > also responsible for providing security support for the library. > Hopefully, it doesn't interact badly with the rest of the system. It > could cause users difficulties on upgrading to new versions of their > OS. My goal is to provide the application, not the library. As you can see, providing the library generally would be a much bigger/riskier deal than just using it as a build-dep. --Daniel
