From: elleron@servtech.com
To: java-linux@java.blackdown.org
Subject: relinking the jdk
Date: Mon, 16 Mar 1998 11:54:30 -0500


	In the midst of all of the problems with various libraries and
the jdk, I'm surprised that noone has put forth my favorite
solution. So, let me rectify the problem straight away. 

	Rather than distribute the jdk statically linked, since
everyone really dislikes statically linked executables, don't we
switch to a link kit? Distributing just the object files should stay
on the good side of licensing problems, since there is no source code
involved, and it allows people to easily run ld and link it to their
current libraries whenever they upgrade.

	There are only two small problems that I can see. First, it
would take a bit more work to get the object files in a distributable
package, simply recursively removing source code is bound to be less
than optimal. However, I think the effort expended would be justified.

	A much larger concern is the use of the motif library. Is it
possible to compile in a static version of motif without completly
linking the executables? I suspect it is, although it may involve
running ld by hand. An even better question may be to ask if lesstif
is a viable solution.

	In short, if someone is willing to expend some effort and
write a short Makefile and possibly an ld script to resolve all of the
dependancies on Motif, we could ship the jdk in object form, letting
everyone do a quick make all; make install and forget about these
nasty library problems.


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