Editing GNU Libtool (section)

{{Short description|Shared library creation tool from GNU}}
{{more citations needed|date=November 2010}}

{{infobox software
| name = GNU Libtool
| logo = [[File:Libtool.jpg|frameless]]
| developer = [[GNU Project]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://directory.fsf.org/wiki/GNU|title=GNU|accessdate=25 June 2012}}</ref>
| released = {{Start date and age|1997|07|09}}
| operating_system = [[Cross-platform]]
| genre = [[Library (computing)|Library]]
| license = [[GNU General Public License|GPLv2]]
| website = {{URL|https://www.gnu.org/software/libtool/}}
}}

'''GNU Libtool''' is a [[software development tool]], part of the [[GNU build system]], consisting of a [[shell script]]<ref name="libtool is a shell script">{{cite book |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=The GNU Libtool manual |url=https://www.gnu.org/software/libtool/manual/libtool.html#Postmortem |date=2015-02-15 |publisher=The GNU project |chapter=A postmortem analysis of other implementations |chapter-url=https://www.gnu.org/software/libtool/manual/html_node/Postmortem.html |accessdate=2021-02-02}}</ref> created to address the [[Software_portability#Effort_to_port_source_code|software portability problem]] when [[Compiler|compiling]] [[Shared_library#Shared_libraries|shared libraries]] from [[source code]].
It [[Abstraction_(computer_science)|hides]] the differences between [[Computing platform|computing platforms]] for the commands which compile shared libraries.<ref name="libtool: portability via abstraction">{{cite book |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=The GNU Libtool manual |url=https://www.gnu.org/software/libtool/manual/libtool.html#Introduction |date=2015-02-15 |publisher=The GNU project |chapter=Introduction |chapter-url=https://www.gnu.org/software/libtool/manual/html_node/Introduction.html |accessdate=2021-02-02}}</ref>
It provides a [[command-line interface]] that is identical across platforms and it executes the platform's [[Native_(computing)#Applications|native commands]].