good thinking; i'll look into those: the fuppes code i compile is mostly .cpp but doesn't use STL, so no problem with stdc++/uclibc++ etc

i think i can get round it for my particular problem: fuppes media serve checks in the configure part for Magick++ but in reality, it only uses Magick (i.e. 'C' version) for the parts that i'm compiling (i.e. transcoding suppoirt is disabled which is the c++ bit); the part i need it for is in determining the resolution of image files for photo display on the xbox: i can probably hack some libjpeg-based code that does away with imagemagick for my needs.

i've tried messing with uclibc++ and libstdc++ but i'm falling into a quagmire of cross-compiling and makefiles, most of which goes over my head to be honest - i used to know this stuff but old(er) age has killed my memory ;(

KC - well worth trying: an example: compiling fuppes on my asus takes approximately 1:30-2hrs IIRC. compiling on my laptop takes 10mins tops! i can run through my exact setup sometime if it helps - basically its vmplayer+debian image...the network adapter setup was a little pesky (theres a config prog in the vmplayer install dir) because i'm behind a proxy at work, but its pretty straightforward. the instructions to get the toolchain are good too, do as it says and choose something like say 'which' to make and it will build all the toolchain there and then. takes a good number of hours to get it all compiled tho!! once done, its sooooo much easier to tinker with code, compile and see the effects rather than on the nas itself.