libslang.so conflicts with s-lang on most linux systems

[colinmarc]

It's currently very difficult to install libslang.so, from the release tarballs, system wide. That's because libslang.so is already taken by s-lang, which is unfortunately in the dependency tree for NetworkManager.

For example, on ubuntu: https://packages.ubuntu.com/jammy/amd64/libslang2/filelist

Linux makes it very difficult to dynamically link against a specific dependency by absolute path - it basically depends on the argument order to ld, which is fiddly if you're using ld from another build tool (so, always). So, unfortunately, name conflicts often result in build or even runtime errors (if the rpath ends up wrong).

I would suggest renaming the artifact to libshader-slang.so, as unsatisfying as that is. A pkgconfig file would also be great! I'm happy to submit a PR for either/both if that sounds acceptable.

[swoods-nv]

I'm not personally super familiar with Linux packaging strategies-- can you give me some information on how pkgconfig would solve this?

[colinmarc]

pkg-config wouldn't solve this (or at least, I don't know how to use pkg-config to solve this). The slang.pc file would conflict with s-lang's, I think.

I just mentioned that because having a shader-slang.pc would make it easy to write, for example, an AUR package to install slang on Arch linux.

[bmillsNV]

Renaming will be a breaking change for other users. We're not sure this is feasible at this time. We suggest using the library in a local location if possible. Does this approach work for you?

[bmillsNV]

No feedback for 2 weeks. We'll close this issue for now. Please reopen if there is more discussion required.

[jkwak-work]

If libslang is taken and we need an alternative name, libshader-slang sounds good to me.
If 'renaming' would break the backward compatibility to the existing customers, we can just generate an additional binary, libshader-slang.so, along with libslang.so.

I was looking at the wikipedia page for s-lang. It looks like a legitimate scripting software, although the official webpage, s-lang.org, didn't work for me.

[colinmarc]

I'm not sure I understand the argument about backwards compatibility - it would be a breaking change, but just on the level of the directory structure change in v2024.1.27. Using it locally is always possible, but a more OS-friendly release would make it easier for people to add slang to package managers.

[mikezackles]

I ran into this as well. (The web page for S-Lang is here). S-Lang is also packaged in homebrew for MacOS and it seems widely available on Linux. libslang.so is the biggest issue, but for what it's worth, include/slang.h and share/doc/slang are also in conflict.

[colinmarc]

Hi, can this please be reopened? This is still an issue.

[misyltoad]

This is still an issue.

[KoT3isGood]

libslangsl.so can be good as replacement for libslang.so name
sl in the end means “shading language” similar to the glsl

[csyonghe]

I would prefer a name that is a little more future proof since I still want Slang to grow into a full heterogeneous language some day.

[rg3igalia]

I just hit a related issue when installing the official Vulkan SDK on Ubuntu 24.04, which includes slang now. /usr/include/slang.h conflicted with the same file provided by libslang2-dev, with the latter belonging to s-lang, and that prevented correct installation of the SDK.