Non-standard link paths

[Bill Moseley]

We are always struggling with linking with (run-time) libraries
installed in non-standard locations.

Is it true now that with autoconf the way to do this is:

   ./configure \
       CPPFLAGS=-I/path/to/headers \
       LDFLAGS='-R/path/to/lib -L/path-to/lib'

and that avoids the need for LD_RUN_PATH?  I get confused because I 
install some packages using old versions of autoconf and need to use 
LD_RUN_PATH before building/linking.

How portable is the above?  Does autoconf also deal with platforms where
LD_RUN_PATH is not supported?  I believe IRIX doesn't support
LD_RUN_PATH.

And to clear up something else, is it correct that using

   --with-foo=/path/to/foo 

is not recommended -- rather the recommended way is simply --with-foo
and use CPPFLAGS and LDFLAGS.

Thanks,

BTW --- this question was prompted by this list message:

  http://swish-e.org/Discussion/archive/2004-01/6925.html

which describes what they went through to build on IRIX and Solaris.
Looks like more work than needed, but that's always the case when
learning.  I would love to get feedback on that message from someone
here that understand this stuff much better than I do.


-- 
Bill Moseley
address@hidden