Are Static Library Machine Independent?

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+1 Q:

Are Static Library Machine Independent?

Well, I am Developing a program in C++ in an Ubuntu 10.04.1 (Intel Core2Quad) LTS, but the releases are running in a Debian 5.0.5 (Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU). Some libraries such as crypto++ or mysqlclient have different versions in both OS. So I decided to compile the binary statically with all the libraries statically compiled in the Ubuntu and then upload the completed binary to the Debian.

I am not sure if this method is correct, because the static libs maybe are architecture-dependent and maybe can get in conflict in the Debian Machine. If I want to use the new library version of Ubuntu in the Debian, should I compile them in the Debian?

Thanks in advance

+2 A:

No, it is not machine independent. The only difference is that all libraries are bundled with the executable, so there is no risk for the program to fail on load with a "library not found" message. In summary, it will works for all linux distributions, but it will not work for Windows, for example.

Baltasarq 2010-09-06 11:03:42

Of course, but maybe the library bundled has been optimized for different architectures and distributions. So maybe can crash if I compile all the executable in Ubuntu and then be runned in Debian. I usually use .a libraries stored in /usr/lib,/lib so I am not sure about the compilers flags that have been used for those libraries downloaded by apt.

JoniPichoni 2010-09-06 11:43:50

Check the .deb file for the package that contains that .a file ? Ubuntu .debs are usually i386,i586,i686 .deb files, optimized for the respective architectures.

nos 2010-09-06 11:47:26

Ok, Thanks a lot

JoniPichoni 2010-09-06 11:58:15

Yes, you're right. But choosing the correct packages is up to you. If you want to be sure that your package will work in all architectures, them, as @nos points out, you should choose the i386 flavor of the package. About distro-dependant packages in the field of development, I can't think of an example (this does not mean that it does not exist).

Baltasarq 2010-09-06 12:01:37

+2 A:

They're architecture dependant. Usually though, library gets compiled to a common architecture on x86 machines, such as i686 which will run fine on both an Intel Xenon and a Intel Core2Quad (But not on e.g. an old Pentium processor)

nos 2010-09-06 11:29:23

ansaurus

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Are Static Library Machine Independent?

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