Re: dynamic loading of libraries

[Pavel Tsekov <ptsekov gmx net>]

Hello,

On Wed, 15 Jun 2005, Roland Illig wrote:

> what do we need dynamic loading for? It seems simpler to me to just link
> to the libraries directly.

It may be simple to you but have you considered the package maintainer
and the end user ? Or you are again just thinking only for yourself ?

There are external dependencies which are not vital for MC and it can
function without them properly - for example the famous X11 mouse support.
With dynamic loading it is still possible to build MC with X11 support
but at runtime a decision is made whether to enable it or not based on the
availability of a given library. So if you don't want to install X you
still can run MC.

> Maybe someone once wanted to have plug-ins. But then the way we do it
> currently is completely wrong. We currently load external libraries
> dynamically, but the interfaces of these libraries could change without
> notice. Here compile-time bindings give us type safety, which dynamic
> binding with GModule cannot provide.

Everything can change without. As we can see even the source code of MC
changes without notice.

And no - it is not about plug-ins. It's about flexibilty. If you've made
the effort to search the mailing list, you probably would find an answer
to your question.

> I suggest that we remove all dynamic binding code from mc.

Perhaps you should think twice before pressing the Send button.

I cannot resist to suggest you to seriously consider the possibility to
move to another project where you can fully exercise your skills. It seems
that you just don't like MC and you are on a crusade to shape it according
to your likings.