[ntp:questions] Size of ntpd program

Dave Hart davehart at gmail.com
Fri Oct 9 16:41:21 UTC 2009


On Tue, Sep 29, 2009 at 9:38 PM, Piotr Grudzinski wrote:
> I have noticed that the size of ntpd program between ntp-dev-4.2.5p219 and ntp-dev-4.2.5p224 increased from 340KB to 430KB.
>
> Is there a real justification for this size increase of 90KB?

Looking at the ChangeLog, the prime suspect would be the updated
libisc.  Previously, ntpd used a fork of libisc dating back over 5
years (with a few bits here and there updated with more current code).
 With 4.2.5p222 current lib/isc from BIND 9 was imported with an
effort to minimize changes to our copy.  Previously, libisc was
simpler and smaller and more of it was stubbed out for ntpd's use.  My
hunch is most of the 90k you're pulling in is unused routines that
happen to live in the same source file as a routine or global which is
used.

I care about ntpd on embedded systems where every kilobyte counts.  I
also care about minimizing our NTP-specific patches to libisc.  If you
spend some time investigating pre-p222 and post you might find some
minimally-invasive ways to carve off unneeded libisc code from ntpd.

Cheers,
Dave Hart



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