rustc not search LIB path (or LIBPATH) on windows for static library

[BusyJay]

It works fine when linking dynamic library. But when linking static library it will complains:

could not find native static library xxx, perhaps an -L flag is missing?

Although I have configured LIB and LIBPATH to the correct path.

[retep998]

This is a design flaw in how kind=static works, via rustc bundling the library instead of asking the linker to link it. An unstable alternative is kind=static-nobundle which will link to the static library the normal way (tracking issue). Alternatively, just use kind=dylib for static libraries because on Windows the only difference between it and kind=static-nobundle is whether dllimport is applied to the symbols and for functions the linker is pretty lenient with that. Just never use kind=static.

[Mark-Simulacrum]

Closing as per the previous comment. I believe this is technically not a bug.

[retep998]

I really wish it was considered a bug, so that the behavior of kind=static could change.

[Mark-Simulacrum]

Yeah, I agree that the current situation isn't optimal. However, I think any change here would need an RFC anyway...