Baslinux mailing list

[Sindi Keesan <keesan AT iamjlamb.com>]

On Mon, 19 Jul 2004 3aoo-cvfd AT dea.spamcon.org wrote:

> Sindi Keesan wrote:
> > 
> > So you could run just statically compiled programs 
> > and have NO libraries?
> 
> Yes.  If you have a spare copy of BL3 (fs.img) to
> experiment with, delete all the libraries (in /lib).

Can you just rename lib to bil temporarily?

> It will still boot and run.  Some binaries will not
> work because they depend on libc5, but the base 
> system will work.  You can even run an Xterminal
> (startxt).
> 
> > But probably need a larger hard disk to hold the 
> > larger programs.  
> 
> If you use uClibc to compile the static binaries,
> it's not too bad.  Does BL3 seem overlarge?  Until
> now did you realize the base system was static?
> 
> Naturally, if you have many static binaries, there
> is a lot of redundancy (as each binary builds in 
> the same library routines).  However, with a small 
> installation and uClibc, the overhead is not too
> onerous.
> 
> > Do such programs include the entire library or 
> > just part of it?
> 
> Just the parts they use.  A library is just a collection
> of often-used routines.  A static compile hard-codes the
> routines into the binary.  A dynamic compile saves space
> by putting in a call to the library instead of putting 
> in the actual routine.

So for just a few programs that use only small parts of the library, it 
could take up less space to compile them statically instead of including 
the entire library on disk?

> > I presume you would need to first mount the drive it 
> > appears on.
> 
> Unless you are putting it on the root filesystem or
> other already-mounted filesystem.
> 
> Cheers,
> Steven