> i think you mean c:\windows\system32. If you mean in good humor as a joke, then alrighty, I can go for that. Not need to get nasty, though, Sidney. =) In all seriousness, though, locating dynamic library files in a central location solves a few and creates one or two problems when it comes to link dependencies. I've seen arguments for both sides over the years, and in point of fact, the only reason POSIX really maintains the current structure is tradition. Root permissions are generally required to install libraries anywhere on the system, except in ~/lib anyway - where users install their own lib versions. By placing libraries in 1 directory instead of three, maintaining versions would be easier, as well as simplifying linking when most administrators these days don't even have the knowledge to set LD_LIBRARY_PATH. The point is also that it would force distribution vendors to standardize the libraries and names of libraries they ship, and make distributions more compatible with each other - rather than scattering them all over the disk in some ad hoc fashion that only some programmer atthe Fedora or the Debian projects can dream up. Not to say that it doesn't have its drawbacks. Multiple library version names might be an issue, for example. T.J.