On Fri, Dec 06, 2013 at 08:24:03AM -0800, Jarno Rajahalme wrote: > > On Dec 6, 2013, at 1:59 AM, Helmut Schaa <helmut.sc...@googlemail.com> wrote: > > > On Wed, Nov 27, 2013 at 10:35 AM, Helmut Schaa > > <helmut.sc...@googlemail.com> wrote: > >> Currently openvswitch builds all libraries static only. However, > >> libopenvswitch is linked into nearly all openvswitch executables > >> making it hardly possible to run openvswitch on embedded devices > >> (for example running OpenWrt). > >> > >> Convert openvswitch to use libtool for building its internal libs. > >> This allows "--enable-shared" and "--enable-static" as configure > >> arguments. Default is "--disable-shared" thus keeping the current > >> behavior with the only change that static libs are installed by > >> "make install". > > > > Any comments on this patch? > > > FWIW I like this. There would need to be some thought on versioning > and binary compatibility of the libraries, though. This must not lead > to a situation where we need to start second guessing about > refactoring OVS code (removing functions, changing function > prototypes, changing data types, etc.) due to compatibility problems > with potential 3rd party programs that may be linked with the same > shared libraries. Also, when OVS is upgraded we should be able to run > two versions at the same time. If this is not done carefully, OVS > upgrades may start breaking running systems.
There's that kind of issue, yes. I think it's minimized if the default is to build and link statically only. (I had not realized that option was available with libtool, although it makes sense that it is.) In the long term I think it's worthwhile to consider having OVS produce (and use internally?) shared libraries with a stable ABI. I've had one request for such a library, and I think that others would find it useful too even if they have not asked me for it. That's a much bigger job than this patch, of course, but something like this could be a stepping stone along the way. _______________________________________________ dev mailing list dev@openvswitch.org http://openvswitch.org/mailman/listinfo/dev
