Re: Gentlemen, start your engines...

[<br...@ph...>]

Timoth=E9e Lecomte wrote:
> Hans-Bernhard Br=F6ker wrote:
>> Timoth=E9e Lecomte wrote:

>>> The patch first fixes the build of gnuplot when libpdf and gd are=
 not=20
>>> installed in standard directories. In those situations, whereas=
=20
>>> configure was checking for the position of the gdlib-config and=
=20
>>> pdflib-config scripts, it did not use the result !

> Hmm... You seem to be right. In fact, the important detail here is =
that=20
> the user I've been discussing with has set the environment variable=
=20
> GDLIB_CONFIG to his gdlib-config script before running 'configure'.=
=20

Wrong approach, IMHO.  If gdlib-config isn't in the PATH, that in its=
elf=20
implies a broken GD installation, or someone trying to use a GD that=
=20
hasn't been installed yet.

 > I don't really know where he found the idea to do it, but there is
> definitely the autoconf magic to do it. It's mentioned in the help =
page=20
> of AC_PATH_PROG, and it's called a "precious variable",=20

Not really.  The doc only "strongly suggests" that we should make it =
a=20
precious variable, not that autoconf doest that by itself --- and we=
=20
don't do that.

> I'm not disputing the fact that there may be multiple copies, I'm=
=20
> disputing the fact that gdlib-config reports the following, when li=
nked=20
> to GNU libiconv:
>=20
>    /home/research/csmkchan/lib/libiconv.so=20
> -Wl,-rpath,/home/research/csmkchan/lib/
>=20
> whereas I think it should report:
>=20
>    -L/home/research/csmkchan/lib -liconv -R/home/research/csmkchan/=
lib

And I have a feeling that Mr. Boutell (or GNU gettext/iconv=20
autoconfigury) did this on purpose, for a very good reason.  The prob=
lem=20
with iconv is that terribly often, there will be two libraries under=
=20
this name on non-GNU Unix box: GNU's version, and the vendor's.  And=
=20
it's very important that you get exactly the one you want.  Using the=
=20
-L/-l search mechanism would be fatal in that case.

Anyway: specifying the library name full can't cause any problem.  It=
's=20
not a bug.

> But look carefully at the patch: as it was written before, the cont=
ents=20
> of 'gdlib-config --libs' was added to TERMLIBS after the checks, so=
=20
> gnuplot was effectively linked against all those libs.=20

I'm aware of that part, and also that changing it would fix the OP's=
=20
problem.  The nasty question is: what will that change do to *other*=
=20
people's configurations?