[kwlug-disc] Zig's guy interview

[Ron]

D. Hugh Redelmeier wrote on 2026-05-31 06:52:
> I assume that the problem is that, by default, Zig binaries are 
> statically linked. That means that every program carries its own copy 
> of each library that it uses. As I understand it, static linking is 
> the default for Rust and Go too. This strikes me as a terrible idea.

I'll disagree. A couple reasons:

 1. How else to run two different versions of an application, each using
    different library versions?
 2. The devs do not want bug reports due to distro system library
    incompatibility
 3. Item #2 is the second most frequent frustration(as I understand
    it) in bug reports after AI slop bug reports

For system applications, shared libraries are the way to go, for sure.


> - so many programs needing to be rebuilt whenever a bug is fixed in a 
> library. How do you even find which programs? Whose job is it to find 
> them?

The authors.


> Shared libraries have been working well on UNIX since the 1980s. Linux 
> copied UNIX fairly early on.

It's not the 1980s any more, we do some things differently now. For one 
thing, there's been exponential growth in software choices where 
incompatibilities can arise.


> I admit that not all libraries should be shared:
Oops, I should have read all the way before replying...
> - if library specifications are mutating rapidly, the advantages of 
> sharing disappear and the disadvantages multiply. This is most likely 
> in young libraries: perhaps libraries should graduate to shared when 
> they are thought to be stable.

Fully agree. Rust, Go, etc. make sense to link statically as they're 
relatively new. Maybe after a decade, dynamic linking will make more 
sense here?


> - if a library isn't getting monotonically better, your dynamically 
> linked program may grow new bugs. The more programs share that 
> library, the sooner such bugs are found and fixed.

If library X is used by package Y and package Z, it shouldn't matter how 
library X is linked?

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