.so = shared object... like a DLL. .a is a static library.
Sometimes people append the version to a .so library and then have a link pointing to whichever version they want.
e.g. "ln -s openssl.so.0.9.6b openssl.so"
This will create the link... then anything going after openssl.so (and able to find it in LD_LIBRARY_PATH) will get directed to openssl.so.0.9.6b.
Thanks, that explains the nomenclature.
I have started reading the code of OpenSSL to figure out how the system is put together - mighty slow going - lots to learn.
On my system, openssl.a is now the new version that I built from the tar ball and openssl.so is an old version that came with the original installation. Intuitively, it doesn't look like a good idea to have two different versions of the library in use.
So, my next schtoopidt question is: Can I generate a .so file myself, by doing the ./configure differently and making it again?
Cheers,
Herman
______________________________________________________________________ OpenSSL Project http://www.openssl.org User Support Mailing List openssl-users@openssl.org Automated List Manager [EMAIL PROTECTED]
