Detour: Dynamic Linking on Linux Without Libc

Posted2 months agoActive2 months ago

generichuman

79 points

8 comments

github.comTechstory

calmpositive

Debate

20/100

Dynamic LinkingLinuxSystem Programming

Key topics

Dynamic Linking

Linux

System Programming

The Detour project demonstrates dynamic linking on Linux without Libc, sparking discussion on alternative approaches to dynamic environments and the trade-offs between them.

Snapshot generated from the HN discussion

Discussion Activity

Moderate engagement

First comment

Peak period

33-36h

Avg / period

2.7

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01Story posted
Oct 28, 2025 at 6:42 PM EDT
2 months ago
Step 01
02First comment
Oct 29, 2025 at 9:37 PM EDT
1d after posting
Step 02
03Peak activity
6 comments in 33-36h
Hottest window of the conversation
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04Latest activity
Oct 30, 2025 at 7:09 AM EDT
2 months ago
Step 04

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Discussion (8 comments)

Showing 8 comments

pjmlp

2 months ago

1 reply

It is possible to have a dynamic environment without dynamic linking, that is how old UNIXes did it in the past via OS IPC, nowadays D-BUS as well, the problem then becomes the higher resource consumption when every little service is a process being started, and talked via IPC instead of a jump call.

Still quite relevant when security and host stability matters, though.

generichumanAuthor

2 months ago

1 reply

That doesn't give you independence from the libc, does it? By extension you lose distro-independence too (not sure if Detour supports musl-based ones, need to run tests).

Agree that IPC will be more secure and stable though.

I imagine Detour is mostly targeting closed source projects trying to run on as many distros as possible.

pjmlp

2 months ago

1 reply

No UNIX has independence from the libc, Linux is the exception to the UNIX rule that libc is the OS API, traditionally syscalls aren't ABI stable.

This approach isn't portable to other UNIX like platforms.

generichumanAuthor

2 months ago

1 reply

I'm only thinking in terms of Linux distributions since I never needed to deploy software on other UNIXes (excluding macOS, but Apple constantly forces changes anyway).

Do other UNIXes have any problems similar to glibc ABI problems that Linux users experience, or do they stabilise the libc ABI similar to how Linux keeps syscalls stable?

pjmlp

2 months ago

1 reply

There are naturally ABI breaks between major OS versions, outside of what POSIX requires.

generichumanAuthor

2 months ago

1 reply

I will be even more impressed with linux syscall stability if your implication is that (some) people need to recompile their software for each major update on all other UNIXes.

pjmlp

2 months ago

Linux is only friendly for FOSS projects, it hardly has the same stability as commercial UNIX systems for closed source software.

Ericson2314

2 months ago

Nest. This reminds of the problem of wishing INTERP supported $ORIGIN.

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ID: 45740241Type: storyLast synced: 11/20/2025, 12:47:39 PM

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