How to debug linker errors?

[walt]

walt wrote:

# operating system:  DragonFly 1.1-CURRENT i386 [a.out] (4.8.2) (480101)
 >>  SHLIBLDFLAGS = -Bshareable -R $(USRLIBDIRPATH) $(SHLIBGLOBALSFLAGS)

I think the difference in the flags in 'xmakefile' probably accounts
for this particular error, but I'm not sure how to fix it...
Well, it happened again :o)  Just posting my question to a public forum
like this one made it obvious where I should look.  The big cluestick
was the 'a.out' in the first line.  I tweaked the config slightly to
change that to 'elf' and now the Xorg-server compiles -- and runs!
I still don't know why it was necessary for me to tweak the configuration,
which leaves me feeling a little uneasy -- but it's still a big step
forward.
Hmm.  The xorg-libraries just died in the middle of a compile.  <sigh>