[Ffmpeg-devel] [RFC] dlopen vs linking for external libraries

[Roman Shaposhnik]

On Tue, 2007-02-27 at 17:23 +0100, Dominik 'Rathann' Mierzejewski wrote:
> > > What program except binaryware bull has to work across different
> > > distributions?  And why would you want to link dynamically instead of
> > > statically in this case?
> >   
> >   Any program for which your distribution doesn't build a package.
> > And don't give me a "you can always build it from source 
> > lecture" -- try building something like Mozilla, OpenOffice or even
> > Scribus on your grandma's machine and then (once its finished in a
> > couple of days) -- continue arguing. 
> 
> Funny, I always thought that's what distributions are for. To save you
> from compiling stuff yourself. Oh wait, you're not running Gentoo on
> your grandma's machine, are you?

   The problem is -- at least Mozilla (FireFox) and Scribus have
release schedules with binaries coming down the pipe often enough
to make it difficult for distros to always have the latest stuff.
FFmpeg with its mantra of "always use the latest one" would
be another prime example of a software which makes it very
difficult for distros to do that for you.

  Basically, everytime I need to install a particular version
of software on my machine I'm at distro's mercy. I don't like that.

Thanks,
Roman.