glfs/general/genlib/genlib.xml

<chapter id="general-genlib">
<?dbhtml filename="genlib.html" dir="general"?>
<title>General Libraries</title>

<para>Libraries contain code which is often required by more than
one program.  This has the advantage that each program doesn't need to
duplicate code (and risk introducing bugs), it just has to call
functions from the libraries installed on the system.  The most obvious
example of a set of libraries is glibc which is installed during the LFS
book.  This contains all of the C library functions which programs
use.</para>

<para>There are two types of library, static and shared.  Shared
libraries (usually libXXX.so) are loaded into memory from the shared
copy at runtime (hence the name).  Static libraries (libXXX.a) are
actually linked into the program executable file itself, thus making the
program file larger.  Quite often, you will find both static and shared
copies of the same library on your system.</para>

<para>Generally, you only need to install libraries when you are
installing software which requires functionality which they supply.  In
the BLFS book, each package is listed with a list of (known)
dependencies.  Thus, you can figure out which libraries you need to have
before installing that program.  If you are installing something without
using BLFS instructions, usually the <filename>README</filename>  or
<filename>INSTALL</filename> file will contain details of the programs
requirements.</para>

<para>There are certain libraries which nearly
<emphasis>everyone</emphasis> will need at some point.  In this chapter
we list these and some others and explain why you may want to install
them.</para>

&openssl;
&pcre;
&popt;
&slang;
&libfam;
&libxml;
&libxml2;
&libxslt;
&gmp;
&gdbm;
&GLib;
&GLib2;

</chapter>