why do we even want shared libraries anyway>

[Ed Hartnett]

Howdy all!

I am involved in several libraries used by scientists. These libraries
are mostly building shared libraries, or, if not, then it's planned to
do so future versions.

I am caught up in this wave of progress (if that is what it is), but I
do not have a good answer to the question: 

Why do we want shared libraries anyway?

Given the cost of disk space, why put up with all the complexity of
building shared libraries? Why not just keep using static
libraries. If the disk runs out of space, spend $200 on a new disk
drive.

(Yes, all our libraries which build shared also build static, so I
understand that the user can always get static if that is what he
wants.) 

Thanks for any helpful response...

Ed
-- 
Ed Hartnett  -- address@hidden