Solo – a .so loader for static Linux binaries
Solo is a new tool that allows static Linux binaries to load host-provided GPU drivers at runtime without requiring containers or complex dependencies. It bridges the gap between static musl-linked binaries and glibc-linked graphics drivers.
Why it matters
This simplifies software deployment for Linux developers by allowing fully static binaries to access hardware acceleration, improving portability and performance.
Ship one musl-linked executable. At runtime, load the user's existing glibc-linked GPU driver. No container, no AppImage, and no second libc in the process.
Static binaries are a wonderfully boring way to deploy software on Linux: one file, no dependencies, nothing to break. We build ours with IX , a source-first build system for producing fully static Linux binaries. The boredom ends the moment the application needs the GPU: Vulkan and OpenGL drivers are supplied by the host as shared objects, usually built against glibc, and a fully static musl binary cannot normally dlopen() them.
SoLo crosses that boundary. It provides a dlfcn -style source API backed by its own ELF loader (x86-64 and aarch64) and a glibc ABI bridge implemented on top of musl. The result is still one ordinary static executable, but it can use the graphics driver already installed on the machine.
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