How can i link my c++ program statically with libstdc++ on osx using clang?

Question

i'm writting c++ program and i want to distribute it on Mac OS X versions 10.6 and above. The problem is when i compile the program with clang and it's dynamically linked with libstdc++ and it causes problems with older systems.

There is a key -static-stdc++ in gcc but there's no one in clang. How can i link my program statically with clang?

My main goal is to compile binary on Mac OS X 10.9 and be able to run it on earlier versions. Maybe there's a different way?

Thank you.

Leticialetisha

Answer 1

Under Linux, this command works:

clang --std=c++11 -stdlib=libstdc++ loopy.cpp -o loopy -static -lstdc++

Where loopy is of course the name of my program.

Update:

It appears that Apple strongly discourages static linking so it suggests another approach is needed.

This answer on creating backwards compatible OS X software may be of use to you instead.

Larocca

this doesn't work on Mac OSX: ld: library not found for -lcrt0.o – Leticialetisha

You'll need static versions of all libraries including libcrt0.a. See this answer for more details on that. – Larocca

It should be possible to statically link libc++ without statically linking libc. The reasoning for discouraging static linking does not apply to libc++; only to libSystem. – Gerardgerardo

@Gerardgerardo but how to link with libc++ statically? – Indeterminacy

@Gerardgerardo still wanting to know how to link with libc++ statically – Indeterminacy

You can use zig c++ to statically link libc++ – Gerardgerardo