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71 lines
2.2 KiB
XML
71 lines
2.2 KiB
XML
<sect1 id="ch06-aboutdebug">
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<title>About debugging symbols</title>
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<para>
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Most programs and libraries by default are compiled with debugging
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symbols (gcc option -g) Let me explain what these debugging symbols
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are and why you may not want them.
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</para>
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<para>
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A program compiled with debugging symbols means a user can run a program or
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library through a debugger and the debugger's output will be user
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friendly. These debugging symbols also enlarge the program or library
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significantly.
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</para>
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<para>
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Before you start wondering whether these debugging symbols really make a
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big difference, here are some statistics. Use them to draw your own
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conclusion.
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</para>
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<itemizedlist>
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<listitem><para>
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A dynamic Bash binary with debugging symbols: 1.2MB
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</para></listitem>
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<listitem><para>
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A dynamic Bash binary without debugging symbols: 478KB
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</para></listitem>
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<listitem><para>
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/lib and /usr/lib (glibc and gcc files) with debugging
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symbols: 87MB
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</para></listitem>
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<listitem><para>
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/lib and /usr/lib (glibc and gcc files) without
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debugging symbols: 16MB
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</para></listitem>
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</itemizedlist>
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<para>
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Sizes vary depending on which compiler was used and which C library
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version was used to link dynamic programs against, but results will be
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similar if you compare programs with and without debugging symbols. After
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I was done with this chapter and stripped all debugging symbols from all LFS
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binaries I regained a little over 102 MB of disk space. Quite the difference.
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</para>
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<para>
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To remove debugging symbols from a binary (must be an a.out or ELF
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binary) run <userinput>strip --strip-debug filename</userinput>. Wild cards
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can be used to strip debugging symbols from multiple files (use something
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like <userinput>strip --strip-debug $LFS/usr/bin/*</userinput>).
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Most people will probably never use a debugger on software, so by
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removing those symbols a lot of disk space can be regained.
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</para>
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<para>
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You might find additional information in the optimization hint which can
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be found at <ulink
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url="http://archive.linuxfromscratch.org/lfs-hints/optimization.txt">
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http://archive.linuxfromscratch.org/lfs-hints/optimization.txt</ulink>.
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</para>
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</sect1>
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