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I’ve been wondering something for a long time. Is it sane to release ELF (32 and 64 bits) binaries in order people to use them? I know we better have to release sources – that’s what I’m used to doing – but I’d like to know what happens if I give a program I’ve compiled on my archlinux to someone using Ubuntu, assuming I don’t use any dynamic libraries except OpenGL and Xlib.

phaazon
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There is a lot of commercial software that does it. It works if you are a bit careful and compile against sufficiently old versions of libraries.

The Linux Standards Base defines a set of libraries and other things that is reasonable to expect on the target system.

Jan Hudec
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  • ok, so it’s completely sane since all distro use the same kernel? or is there any possible differences? – phaazon May 10 '13 at 14:58
  • @skp: Linux (the kernel) maintains pretty good backward compatibility and so does GNU libc. The main problem is making sure you don't rely on forward compatibility, i.e. don't compile against newer version than is generally available. Debian Stable (or Oldstable when Stable is currently new like now) is usually good source of old versions. – Jan Hudec May 13 '13 at 09:00
  • thank you for the record! I actually released my stuff and most people say me it’s ok on Ubuntu (I compiled it on my Arch) :) – phaazon May 13 '13 at 11:33