Change to the default behaviour of ld
Summary
Change DSO-linking semantics of the gcc compiler. Previously calls to the linker (ld) from gcc would result in dangerous default behaviour where ld would attempt to implicitly satisfy link requirements. The proposed change will prevent ld from automatically searching in the dependencies of linked objects.
Owner
- Name: Charley Wang
- E-mail: chwang@redhat.com
Current status
- Targeted release: Fedora 13
- Last updated: 2009-11-25
- Percentage of completion: 50%
- Mass builds: Have done test builds of ~4000 rpms so far with new ld. Incomplete list of ld-broken packages is at DSOLinkBugs
Detailed Description
Change the default behaviour of ld. Previously the ld command would default to --add-needed, the change would cause ld to default to --no-add-needed. This will prevent ld from automatically searching in the dependencies of linked objects.
Benefit to Fedora
As described in UnderstandingDSOLinkChange, the new default behaviour will help address potential problems further down the line if shared objects ever change their dependencies.
Scope
Changes the default behaviour of ld, which will affect compilation.
Test Plan
- Run mass mock builds, notify owners of packages that have problems under the new ld.
User Experience
Some packages and users writing programs may need to explicitly link shared objects if they have neglected to do so.
Dependencies
None
Contingency Plan
- Continue without such capability.
Documentation
Description and example is up in UnderstandingDSOLinkChange
Release Notes
In Fedora 13, the the default behaviour of ld changed. Previously the ld command would default to --add-needed. Now ld to defaults to --no-add-needed.