GNU Libtool

From Encoresoup - The Ultimate Guide to Free/Open Source Software

GNU Libtool is a GNU programming tool from the GNU build system used for creating portable software libraries. To quote the introduction in the Libtool Manual:

In the past, if a source code package developer wanted to take advantage of the power of shared libraries, it was necessary to write custom support code for each platform on which the package ran. It was also necessary to design a configuration interface so that the package installer could choose what sort of libraries were built.

GNU Libtool simplifies the developer's job by encapsulating both the platform-specific dependencies, and the user interface, in a single script. GNU Libtool is designed so that the complete functionality of each host type is available via a generic interface, but nasty quirks are hidden from the programmer.

GNU Libtool's interface aims to be consistent. Users are not expected to read low-level documentation in order to have a source package build shared libraries. They should only have to run the package's configure script (or equivalent), and Libtool should take care of the details.

Libtool is typically used with Autoconf and Automake, two other tools of the GNU build system.

[edit] See also

• GNU Compiler Collection
• GNU build system

[edit] External links

• GNU Libtool home page
• Manual
• Autobook homepage
• The "Autotools Tutorial" by Alexandre Duret-Lutz introduces Autoconf, Automake, Libtool, and Gettext.

v • d • e GNU Project
History	GNU Manifesto · GNU Project · Free Software Foundation · History of free software
GNU licences	GNU General Public License · GNU Lesser General Public License · Affero General Public License · GNU Free Documentation License · GPL linking exception
Software	GNU (Variants) · GNOME · Gnuzilla · IceCat · Gnash · Bash · GCC · GNU Emacs · glibc · Coreutils · GNU build system · Other GNU packages and programs
Speakers	Robert J. Chassell · Loïc Dachary · Ricardo Galli · Georg C. F. Greve · Federico Heinz · Benjamin Mako Hill · Bradley M. Kuhn · Eben Moglen · Brett Smith  · Richard Stallman · John Sullivan