linking libtool archives across toolchains

[Eric Bavier]

I have a question about how to work with libtool in a multi-toolchain
environment.  

Background: We have a piece of software (MVAPICH2) we're trying to build
that uses libtool to create shared libraries for some C++ code.  For ABI
compatibility reasons we need to compile this C++ code with the Cray C++
compiler.  This code depends on another installed library that was built
with GCC, and when libtool goes to create the shared library, it pulls
in some information from this library's installed .la file, which
contains, among other things, a definition for "inherited_linker_flags"
containing the -pthread option.  Unfortunately, the Cray compilers do
not support the -pthread option, so the linking fails.

Obviously, this is just a single example, and it can be hacked around by
removing the -pthread option in the libtool script before linking, but I
wanted to ask any advice on how to work with libtool when libraries are
being built with two or more compiler toolchains.  Has this scenario
been dealt with before?  Is it not a good idea in general?

-- 
Eric Bavier, Scientific Libraries, Cray Inc.