Re: PostgreSQL 8.4.3: configure script on Debian Lenny with libbsd-dev and libbsd0 installed does not detect strlcpy and strlcat functions

Holger Rauch <holger(dot)rauch(at)empic(dot)de> writes:
> So, my question is: Why does the configure script not include these
> checks on Linux systems (for the bsd/string.h file and libbsd)?

Well, there are several reasons:

1. I don't think we really care that much --- the src/port/
implementations of those functions work fine, so there's no reason to
jump through hoops to guess what nonstandard place a given platform
might have hidden the functions in.

2. Linking an extra library just to bring in those two functions doesn't
seem like a win.

3. Doesn't -lbsd typically pull in versions of functions that follow old
BSD conventions rather than POSIX-standard behavior? I'm not sure we
want that at all. Our code generally assumes that it'll get POSIX
behavior on Linuxen.

regards, tom lane