[Linux-users] Strip ...

[Bill Campbell]

On Thu, Aug 16, 2007, Lonni J Friedman wrote:
>On 8/16/07, Ben Duncan <linux4ms at aim.com> wrote:
>> I came across a Slackware Install script where the author was
>> using "strip --strip-unneeded" against all of the objects.
>>
>> I know that 'strip' is suppose to help reduce the size of OBJECTS, but
>> on modern systems with BIG hard drives, is that still necessary?
>
>Yes.  You don't strip a binary just to reduce its size (although that
>is a valid reason, as having a big disk is a lame reason not to strip
>a binary).  You strip a binary to improve its runtime performance.
>There are other reasons, such as hiding/obfuscating symbols which some
>vendors want to do.

If you're looking for runtime performance, strip the binaries when building
packages, not during installation as stripping them will render package
verfication (rpm -V) useless.

IMHO the performance gain from stripping binaries or using the Red Had
prelink, is false optimization given the speed of today's machines.

Bill
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