Feature: ld formula for Linux

[osalbahr]

Additional Info

• I am using Windows Subsystem for Linux

Output of brew config

HOMEBREW_VERSION: 4.0.28-18-g64b6479
ORIGIN: https://github.com/Homebrew/brew
HEAD: 64b64791002d2df10bdd0268da85c9b27eead96c
Last commit: 74 minutes ago
Core tap origin: https://github.com/Homebrew/homebrew-core
Core tap HEAD: 83fb7b321cfb9fe330bcd4bbec9e5df1b9580268
Core tap last commit: 81 minutes ago
Core tap branch: master
Core tap JSON: 09 Jul 23:40 UTC
HOMEBREW_PREFIX: /home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew
HOMEBREW_CASK_OPTS: []
HOMEBREW_DISPLAY: :0
HOMEBREW_EDITOR: /usr/bin/nano
HOMEBREW_MAKE_JOBS: 4
Homebrew Ruby: 2.6.10 => /var/home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/Homebrew/Library/Homebrew/vendor/portable-ruby/2.6.10_1/bin/ruby
CPU: quad-core 64-bit skylake
Clang: N/A
Git: 2.41.0 => /bin/git
Curl: 8.0.1 => /bin/curl
Kernel: Linux 6.3.11-200.fc38.x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux
OS: Fedora release 38 (Thirty Eight)
Host glibc: 2.37
/usr/bin/gcc: 13.1.1
/usr/bin/ruby: N/A
glibc: N/A
gcc@11: N/A
gcc: 13.1.0
xorg: N/A

Output of brew doctor

Your system is ready to brew.

Description of issue

I would like to use LunarVim on Fedora Silverblue. However, running lvim empty.c initially gives an error due to missing ld:

nvim-treesitter[regex]: Error during compilation    
collect2: fatal error: cannot find ‘ld’
compilation terminated.

The editor works fine afterwards, but not fully functional. So I ran brew install binutils:

$ ld
bash: ld: command not found
$ brew install binutils
Warning: binutils 2.40 is already installed and up-to-date.
To reinstall 2.40, run:
  brew reinstall binutils
$ gld
bash: gld: command not found

According to Homebrew/homebrew-core#17794 the reason for that is ld doesn't work on macOS. Would it be possible to conditionally ship ld only on Linux? Looking at binutils.rb, I am not sure how exactly ld is removed.

I want to brew install ld to avoid disabling SELinux (the case for nix), or depending on a container solution such as distrobox or toolbox. I also would like to avoid overlaying.

---

Note: I am on branch osalbahr/silverbrew which includes an experimental feature to support Fedora Silverblue. The only thing in this discussion post specific to Silverblue, afaik, is that they decided not to ship ld for some reason.

[ZhongRuoyu]

ld is shipped on Linux. The problem is that it is keg-only so you won't find it in "$(brew --prefix)/bin".

You may use "$(brew --prefix binutils)"/bin/ld:

$ "$(brew --prefix binutils)"/bin/ld --version
GNU ld (GNU Binutils) 2.40
Copyright (C) 2023 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
This program is free software; you may redistribute it under the terms of
the GNU General Public License version 3 or (at your option) a later version.
This program has absolutely no warranty.

Or, follow the caveats found in brew info binutils to have ld and other binutils executables first in your PATH. Do this with care as that may shadow the host toolchain.

[osalbahr]

Oh wow. Thank you!

$ gcc test.c
collect2: fatal error: cannot find ‘ld’
compilation terminated.
$ ln -s "$(brew --prefix binutils)"/bin/ld ~/.local/bin
$ gcc test.c
$ ./a.out 
Hello, gcc

Now I can use lvim normally without getting the error message. I think symlinking it to ~/.local/bin is probably safe ld is not available on Fedora Silverblue (yet?). The host's necessary toolchain are protected since the system is immutable.

(I should probably install a nerd font, tho)

[osalbahr]

Actually, I think I will go with PATH="$PATH:/home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/opt/binutils/bin" which adds all commands and prevents shadowing. Hopefully I don't stumble into random conflicts.

[osalbahr]

ok... I just realized it was already in the output.

$ brew install binutils
==> Fetching binutils
==> Downloading https://ghcr.io/v2/homebrew/core/binutils/manifests/2.40
Already downloaded: /var/home/dracula/.cache/Homebrew/downloads/c7fb23edf5c6c66ef0044acaa26d1d03ec2131cb53a64a6127aaf6e5620a905b--binutils-2.40.bottle_manifest.json
==> Downloading https://ghcr.io/v2/homebrew/core/binutils/blobs/sha256:f0917ab2fe7b72350deac1946dd8e937e0199292f05ab7
Already downloaded: /var/home/dracula/.cache/Homebrew/downloads/46c4051d6d134c64f7376d134996bd75e8a31703764e53799f48d37e0780dfcd--binutils--2.40.x86_64_linux.bottle.tar.gz
==> Pouring binutils--2.40.x86_64_linux.bottle.tar.gz
==> Caveats
binutils is keg-only, which means it was not symlinked into /home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew,
because it shadows the host toolchain.

If you need to have binutils first in your PATH, run:
  echo 'export PATH="/home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/opt/binutils/bin:$PATH"' >> /var/home/dracula/.bash_profile

For compilers to find binutils you may need to set:
  export LDFLAGS="-L/home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/opt/binutils/lib"
  export CPPFLAGS="-I/home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/opt/binutils/include"
==> Summary
🍺  /home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/Cellar/binutils/2.40: 4,698 files, 462.4MB
==> Running `brew cleanup binutils`...
Disable this behaviour by setting HOMEBREW_NO_INSTALL_CLEANUP.
Hide these hints with HOMEBREW_NO_ENV_HINTS (see `man brew`).

I think I mistakenly thought I can just prepend g (but that's coreutils):

$ brew reinstall coreutils
==> Fetching coreutils
==> Downloading https://ghcr.io/v2/homebrew/core/coreutils/manifests/9.3
Already downloaded: /var/home/dracula/.cache/Homebrew/downloads/609f2c1be77d32e761174c0fd1ceb71c0714bc34cb531569f43b723f87304ebf--coreutils-9.3.bottle_manifest.json
==> Downloading https://ghcr.io/v2/homebrew/core/coreutils/blobs/sha256:376674abab0d5c19e3f3db5481a2604adac227f89036c
Already downloaded: /var/home/dracula/.cache/Homebrew/downloads/e70a21c1e6dc846b72247528c602c981c4e8f55a0432913ef73f4794591ff5c6--coreutils--9.3.x86_64_linux.bottle.tar.gz
==> Reinstalling coreutils 
==> Pouring coreutils--9.3.x86_64_linux.bottle.tar.gz
==> Caveats
All commands have been installed with the prefix "g".
If you need to use these commands with their normal names, you can add a "gnubin" directory to your PATH with:
  PATH="/home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/opt/coreutils/libexec/gnubin:$PATH"
==> Summary
🍺  /home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/Cellar/coreutils/9.3: 574 files, 20.9MB
==> Running `brew cleanup coreutils`...
Disable this behaviour by setting HOMEBREW_NO_INSTALL_CLEANUP.
Hide these hints with HOMEBREW_NO_ENV_HINTS (see `man brew`).

Closing since Homebrew/homebrew-core#17794 is no longer the case.