Re: Where is LD_LIBRARY_PATH set?

[Matthew Saltzman <mjs ces clemson edu>]

On Mon, 3 Nov 2003, Steven W. Orr wrote:

> On Monday, Nov 3rd 2003 at 13:13 -0500, quoth Matthew Saltzman:
>
> =>I have settings in my .bash_profile that add directories to
> =>$LD_LIBRARY_PATH.  When I log in on the console, these settings take
> =>effect, but when I log in via X (using gdm and GNOME), LD_LIBRARY_PATH is
> =>blank.  What is different between the two logins that LD_LIBRARY_PATH is
> =>getting reset after I set it in X?  (I know .bash_profile is being
> =>executed because all other variables I set are set as expected.)
> =>
> =>I've looked everywhere in /etc/ and everywhere in my home, and I can't
> =>find another place where it's set (other than openoffice setup scripts,
> =>which shouldn't have an effect on login).
>
> Sigh. Here we go again. Unless you really know what you're doing, you
> should almost never set LD_LIBRARY_PATH. The purpose of that variable is
> to allow a program to select from a set of multiple shared libraries at
> startup. The reason most people ever want to set this is for when they are
> running executables which come with shared libs which are installed on
> another machine in a different directory from where they were linked. Most
> common example of this is Oracle.

So I have an app with its own library installed in a directory that's not
on the usual path.  It's a commercial product that doesn't come as an RPM.
This is the only package that cares about this particular library.

> The real solution is to modify ld.so.conf and then run ldconfig.

OK, in this case, I can do that.  But what if I'm just a user on the
system.  Then I've installed the package in my home directory and I don't
have root.  How do I get the package to find its library in that case?

And while I appreciate the advice, that still doesn't answer the question
of what's resetting LD_LIBRARY_PATH when I log in through X.  It makes me
wonder what else is being done.

>
> Oh yeah. One more thing. LD_LIBRARY_PATH is *not* honored in the event of
> an suid program.

Not an issue here.

Thanks.

-- 
		Matthew Saltzman

Clemson University Math Sciences
mjs AT clemson DOT edu
http://www.math.clemson.edu/~mjs