So you want to add an interface to libc... CASE I: internal symbols A) used in a single file Duh: use whatever name you want and make it static B) used in multiple files Give it a name in the implementation namespace (leading underbar) and declare it in a __{BEGIN,END}_HIDDEN_DECLS block in a .h file inside libc. If it's used in just a single subdir of libc *and* that subdir has an appropriate .h file in it, then declare it there. Example: stdio/local.h. Otherwise, declare it in one of the hidden/* files. Example: _mktemp() in hidden/stdio.h CASE II: external symbols First of all, add your symbol to Symbols.list. MD symbols go in arch/*/Symbols.list (shock, I know) Declare your function in the appropriate header. It almost certainly should be in a public header installed under /usr/include/. Exceptions are symbols that are just shared between libc and libpthread/csu/ld.so which are only declared in libc/include/* or just in each .c file. A) objects (variables) That's it, you're done. B) plain C functions (not syscalls) 1) functions that are *not* called from inside libc If this function is specified in the ISO C standard or its name begins with an underbar, then in the hidden/* version of the header where you declared the function, add this line: PROTO_STD_DEPRECATED(your_function_name); Otherwise, this is *not* a function specified in the ISO C standard and its name begins with a letter. In the hidden/* version of the header where you declared the function, add this line: PROTO_DEPRECATED(your_function_name); Note: the "DEPRECATED" suffix is about a detail of how the macros work and has nothing to do with whether the function itself is a Good Thing vs deprecated. 2) functions that are called from inside libc In the hidden/* version of the header where you declared the function, add this line: PROTO_NORMAL(your_function_name); Then, in the .c file(s) where the function is defined: - if the function is specified in the ISO C standard or its name begins with an underbar, add DEF_STRONG(your_function_name); - otherwise, add: DEF_WEAK(your_function_name); C) syscalls that don't require any wrapping In the hidden/* version of the header where you declared the function, add this line: PROTO_NORMAL(your_function_name); Generate the stub by adding it to the ASM variable in libc/sys/Makefile.inc D) syscalls that require cancellation or similar wrappers that don't change the function signature Generate the stub by adding it to the HIDDEN (*not* ASM!) variable in libc/sys/Makefile.inc In the hidden/* version of the header where you declared the function, add this line: PROTO_WRAP(your_function_name); The wrapper function should be defined in libc/sys/w_your_function_name.c which should define WRAP(your_function_name) and follow it with DEF_WRAP(your_function_name). Look at libc/sys/w_sigaction.c for an example. By default, libc code that calls your_function_name() will get the real syscall and *not* the wrapper. libc calls that need to go through the wrapper should invoke WRAP(your_function_name) E) syscalls that require libc wrappers for other reasons First of all, make sure this really is the Right Thing. Talk with kettenis, deraadt, millert, and guenther. If the actual syscall doesn't have the same calling convention as the C interface, then maybe it shouldn't be exported at all and you should just have an ASM stub, like SYS___tfork --> __tfork_thread() or SYS_break --> brk() and sbrk(). If it _could_ be called from C, then give the syscall a name different from the C API. Syscalls that fail this for historical reasons (e.g., exit == _exit(2)) are generated with PSEUDO/PSEUDO_NOERR in libc/sys/Makefile.inc, so the ASM stub has a leading underbar. Go read gen/getlogin.c rev 1.13 for an example of how to do this, but don't pick this option, really.