Alkis Evlogimenos <alkis@[...].com>  writes:

>  So if I get it correctly:
>  runtime-link-static: creates a static library that is statically linked to the 
>  C++ runtime

No, the use of runtime-link-static is not limited to static library
building. If your Jamfile says:

   exe foo : foo.cpp : <runtime-link> static ;

it creates an executable which is always statically linked to the
runtime library. So <runtime-link> static compiles and links objects
which are suitable for linking statically to the runtime.

>  runtime-link-dynamic: creates a static library that is dynamically linked to 
>  the C++ runtime (is this possible?)

Likewise, not specific to static libraries.

>  shared-linkable-true: creates a shared library that is dynamically linked to 
>  the C++ library

No, <shared-linkable> true generates code which can be linked
dynamically. On linux gcc this means it uses -fPIC.

>  I am using linux and both runtime-link-dynamic and
>  runtime-link-static are static libraries.

Let's just get the terminology straight. They are not static
libraries. They are subvariant path components which correspond to the
build properties <runtime-link> dynamic and <runtime-link>static,
respectively. In that build directory tree you will find a
built product. Depending on the type of main target you've built, it
will be a static or dynamic library, an executable, or a python module.

>   They also have the same
>  size but the binaries differ (at least this is what diff says).
>  
>  As an example I dumped the symbols for 
>  ./libs/thread/build/bin/libboost_thread.a/rs/debug/runtime-link-{static,dynamic}/threading
-multi/libboost_thread.a 
>  and I get the following diff:

Ah, so you're building libboost_thread.

>  It looks like only the name mangling differs. 

<snip> 

>  So I assume linking to either 
>  one will result in an executable that will behave the same. Maybe linux 
>  doesn't do a distinction between linking dynamically to the C++ runtime or 
>  not?

Yes, it does. That's what -static in the g++ command-line means. You
can inspect the build command lines by passing 

   -n -a

to bjam when you invoke it. Inspecting the differences will tell you a
lot.

-- 
           David Abrahams * Boost Consulting
dave@[...].com * http://www.boost-consulting.com

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