[Gsll-devel] Proposed modification of libgsl locations on linux' (RedHat in particular)

[Mirko Vukovic]

Hello,

I propose to add the /usr/local/lib and /usr/local/lib64 directories
to the libgsl search path.

As RedHat states
(http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/linux/RHL-9-Manual/ref-guide/s1-filesystem-fhs.html):

"The /usr/local hierarchy is for use by the system administrator when
installing software locally. It needs to be safe from being
overwritten when the system software is updated. It may be used for
programs and data that are shareable among a group of hosts, but not
found in /usr."

For example, the `official' RedHat gsl that comes with software
updates from RedHat thas the version 1.10 and lives in /usr/lib64.  I
need to install the latest ones into /usr/local/lib64.

Here is the modified libgsl definition:

(cffi:define-foreign-library libgsl
    (:darwin
     (:or "/opt/local/lib/libgsl.dylib" "/sw/lib/libgsl.dylib"
	  "/usr/local/lib/libgsl.dylib"))
  (:cygwin (:or "/bin/cyggsl-0.dll"))
  (:unix (:or "/usr/local/lib64/lib/libgsl.so.0"
"/usr/local/lib64/lib/libgsl.so" ;;<--- New
	      "/usr/local/lib/libgsl.so.0" "/usr/local/lib/libgsl.so" ;; <--- New
	      "/usr/lib/libgsl.so.0" "/usr/lib/libgsl.so"
	      "/usr/lib64/libgsl.so.0" "/usr/lib64/libgsl.so"
	      ))
  (t (:default "libgsl")))

Note that I put the most specific case first.  Otherwise the system
libraries get loaded.

Generalizing this approach to multiple systems (i.e. Debian, RedHat,
others) can result in unmanageable loading rules (I am not familiar
with other linux/unix file system conventions).  In that case, it may
prove useful for the user to set-up a red-hat or debian `feature', and
to customize these for their particular setup.

Mirko