<s>
In	O
computer	B-General_Concept
programming	I-General_Concept
,	O
GNU	B-Application
Libtool	I-Application
is	O
a	O
software	O
development	O
tool	O
,	O
part	O
of	O
the	O
GNU	B-Application
build	I-Application
system	I-Application
,	O
consisting	O
of	O
a	O
shell	B-Language
script	I-Language
created	O
to	O
address	O
the	O
software	O
portability	O
problem	O
when	O
compiling	B-Language
shared	O
libraries	B-Library
from	O
source	O
code	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
hides	O
the	O
differences	O
between	O
computing	B-Device
platforms	I-Device
for	O
the	O
commands	O
which	O
compile	B-Language
shared	O
libraries	B-Library
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
provides	O
a	O
commandline	O
interface	O
that	O
is	O
identical	O
across	O
platforms	B-Device
and	O
it	O
executes	O
the	O
platform	O
's	O
native	O
commands	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Different	O
operating	B-General_Concept
systems	I-General_Concept
handle	O
shared	O
libraries	B-Library
differently	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Some	O
platforms	B-Device
do	O
not	O
use	O
shared	O
libraries	B-Library
at	O
all	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
can	O
be	O
difficult	O
to	O
make	O
a	O
software	O
program	O
portable	O
:	O
the	O
C	O
compiler	B-Language
differs	O
from	O
system	O
to	O
system	O
;	O
certain	O
library	B-Library
functions	I-Library
are	O
missing	O
on	O
some	O
systems	O
;	O
header	O
files	O
may	O
have	O
different	O
names	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
GNU	B-Application
build	I-Application
system	I-Application
is	O
designed	O
to	O
address	O
this	O
problem	O
more	O
manageably	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Libtool	B-Application
helps	O
manage	O
the	O
creation	O
of	O
static	B-Library
and	O
dynamic	B-Application
libraries	I-Application
on	O
various	O
Unix-like	B-Operating_System
operating	I-Operating_System
systems	I-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
Libtool	B-Application
accomplishes	O
this	O
by	O
abstracting	O
the	O
library-creation	O
process	O
,	O
hiding	O
differences	O
between	O
various	O
systems	O
(	O
e.g.	O
</s>
<s>
Linux	B-Application
systems	O
vs.	O
Solaris	B-Application
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
GNU	B-Application
Libtool	I-Application
is	O
designed	O
to	O
simplify	O
the	O
process	O
of	O
compiling	B-Language
a	O
computer	O
program	O
on	O
a	O
new	O
system	O
,	O
by	O
"	O
encapsulating	O
both	O
the	O
platform-specific	O
dependencies	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
user	O
interface	O
,	O
in	O
a	O
single	O
script	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
When	O
porting	O
a	O
program	O
to	O
a	O
new	O
system	O
,	O
Libtool	B-Application
is	O
designed	O
so	O
the	O
porter	O
need	O
not	O
read	O
low-level	O
documentation	O
for	O
the	O
shared	O
libraries	B-Library
to	O
be	O
built	O
,	O
rather	O
just	O
run	O
a	O
configure	O
script	O
(	O
or	O
equivalent	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Libtool	B-Application
is	O
used	O
by	O
Autoconf	B-Application
and	O
Automake	B-Application
,	O
two	O
other	O
portability	O
tools	O
in	O
the	O
GNU	B-Application
build	I-Application
system	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Since	O
GNU	B-Application
Libtool	I-Application
was	O
released	O
,	O
other	O
free	B-Application
software	I-Application
projects	O
have	O
created	O
drop-in	O
replacements	O
under	O
different	O
software	B-License
licenses	I-License
.	O
</s>
