LD_LIBRARY_PATH setting for a typical compiler installation

Question

What is the setting of the LD_LIBRARY_PATH environment variables (all three forms, i.e., including the ones with the _32 and _64 suffix) we can expect on a typical Sun C++ installation on SPARC? Can we expect only LD_LIBRARY_PATH to be set or do the
suffix forms get defined as well (or instead)? We need to know which variable(s) to
modify in our infrastructure and since the suffix forms override the generic one it makes
a difference.

Answer 1

Yup, LD_LIBRARY_PATH is also discouraged for installations in
alternate directories. All the Sun Studio tools themselves will
run just fine without needed any of these variables. But we do
ship with shared libraries for our users to use in their apps.
By default the compilers will add RPATH settings into the exectuables
to find the shared libraries in the compiler install directory
(wherever that happens to be during compile time). But if the
end user doesn't have the same compiler installed in the same place,
then the creator of the executable has to decide how to deal with it.
One choice they have is to tell the end user to install the runtime
libs in an arbitrary spot, and then use LD_LIBRARY_PATH.
We try to discourage that, but we're not in a position to enforce it.
It's better to ship the runtime libs in a fixed position relative to the executable
that you're shipping, and use $ORIGIN in the RPATH setting.
--chris