Hi,
  it seems the automagically generated Makefile or possibly resulting files
from libtool are sometimes wrong. I tried to create dynamic and static libs
(see configure options below) to avoid my problem with modules (see my
other bug report). That result in some option being ignored by ld. But, I
get some error about png not being available. ;(

/bin/sh ../libtool --mode=link cc  -O3 -n32 -TARG:platform=IP22
-I/usr/local/include -I/software/@sys/usr/include
-I/usr/local/BerkeleyDB.4.0/include -version-info 0:5:0 -export-dynamic
-rpath /software/@sys/usr/lib -export-symbols-regex "^[^_].*"
../gdk-pixbuf/libgdk_pixbuf-2.0.la -lXext -lX11 -L/software/@sys/usr/lib
-lpangox-1.0 -lpango-1.0 -lgobject-2.0 -lgmodule-2.0 -lglib-2.0 -lintl
-liconv -ltiff -ljpeg -lpng -lz -lm -o libgdk-x11-2.0.la   gdk.lo
gdkcolor.lo gdkcursor.lo gdkdraw.lo gdkevents.lo gdkfont.lo gdkgc.lo
gdkglobals.lo gdkkeys.lo gdkkeyuni.lo gdkimage.lo gdkpango.lo
gdkpixbuf-drawable.lo gdkpixbuf-render.lo gdkpixmap.lo
gdkpolyreg-generic.lo gdkrgb.lo gdkrectangle.lo gdkregion-generic.lo
gdkwindow.lo gdkenumtypes.lo x11/libgdk-x11.la        -L/usr/local/lib
-L/software/@sys/usr/lib -L/usr/local/BerkeleyDB.4.0/lib  -liconv -lintl
-liconv
rm -fr .libs/libgdk-x11-2.0.la .libs/libgdk-x11-2.0.*
.libs/libgdk-x11-2.0.*
generating symbol list for `libgdk-x11-2.0.la'
/usr/bin/nm -B  gdk.o gdkcolor.o gdkcursor.o gdkdraw.o gdkevents.o
gdkfont.o gdkgc.o gdkglobals.o gdkkeys.o gdkkeyuni.o gdkimage.o gdkpango.o
gdkpixbuf-drawable.o gdkpixbuf-render.o gdkpixmap.o gdkpolyreg-generic.o
gdkrgb.o gdkrectangle.o gdkregion-generic.o gdkwindow.o gdkenumtypes.o  
x11/.libs/libgdk-x11.al | sed -n -e 's/^.*[      
]\([BCDEGRST][BCDEGRST]*\)[      ][     
]*\(\)\([_A-Za-z][_A-Za-z0-9]*\)$/\1 \2\3 \3/p' | sed 's/.* //' | sort |
uniq > .libs/libgdk-x11-2.0.exp
egrep -e "^[^_].*" ".libs/libgdk-x11-2.0.exp" > ".libs/libgdk-x11-2.0.expT"
mv -f ".libs/libgdk-x11-2.0.expT" ".libs/libgdk-x11-2.0.exp"
rm -fr .libs/libgdk-x11-2.0.lax
mkdir .libs/libgdk-x11-2.0.lax
rm -fr .libs/libgdk-x11-2.0.lax/libgdk-x11.al
mkdir .libs/libgdk-x11-2.0.lax/libgdk-x11.al
(cd .libs/libgdk-x11-2.0.lax/libgdk-x11.al && ar x
/scratch/gtk+-2.0.5/gdk/x11/.libs/libgdk-x11.al)
/usr/bin/ld -n32 -shared  gdk.o gdkcolor.o gdkcursor.o gdkdraw.o
gdkevents.o gdkfont.o gdkgc.o gdkglobals.o gdkkeys.o gdkkeyuni.o gdkimage.o
gdkpango.o gdkpixbuf-drawable.o gdkpixbuf-render.o gdkpixmap.o
gdkpolyreg-generic.o gdkrgb.o gdkrectangle.o gdkregion-generic.o
gdkwindow.o gdkenumtypes.o 
.libs/libgdk-x11-2.0.lax/libgdk-x11.al/gdkwindow-x11.lo
.libs/libgdk-x11-2.0.lax/libgdk-x11.al/gdkinput.lo
.libs/libgdk-x11-2.0.lax/libgdk-x11.al/gdkevents-x11.lo
.libs/libgdk-x11-2.0.lax/libgdk-x11.al/gdkinput-none.lo
.libs/libgdk-x11-2.0.lax/libgdk-x11.al/xsettings-common.lo
.libs/libgdk-x11-2.0.lax/libgdk-x11.al/gdkselection-x11.lo
.libs/libgdk-x11-2.0.lax/libgdk-x11.al/gdkgeometry-x11.lo
.libs/libgdk-x11-2.0.lax/libgdk-x11.al/xsettings-client.lo
.libs/libgdk-x11-2.0.lax/libgdk-x11.al/gdkdnd-x11.lo
.libs/libgdk-x11-2.0.lax/libgdk-x11.al/gdkcursor-x11.lo
.libs/libgdk-x11-2.0.lax/libgdk-x11.al/gdkvisual-x11.lo
.libs/libgdk-x11-2.0.lax/libgdk-x11.al/gdkpixmap-x11.lo
.libs/libgdk-x11-2.0.lax/libgdk-x11.al/gdkmain-x11.lo
.libs/libgdk-x11-2.0.lax/libgdk-x11.al/gdkglobals-x11.lo
.libs/libgdk-x11-2.0.lax/libgdk-x11.al/gdkfont-x11.lo
.libs/libgdk-x11-2.0.lax/libgdk-x11.al/gdkproperty-x11.lo
.libs/libgdk-x11-2.0.lax/libgdk-x11.al/gdkkeys-x11.lo
.libs/libgdk-x11-2.0.lax/libgdk-x11.al/gdkdrawable-x11.lo
.libs/libgdk-x11-2.0.lax/libgdk-x11.al/gdkgc-x11.lo
.libs/libgdk-x11-2.0.lax/libgdk-x11.al/gdkxid.lo
.libs/libgdk-x11-2.0.lax/libgdk-x11.al/gdkim-x11.lo  
-L/software/@sys/usr/local/lib -L/usr/local/BerkeleyDB.4.0/lib
-L/software/@sys/usr/lib -L/usr/local/lib
../gdk-pixbuf/.libs/libgdk_pixbuf-2.0.so -lXext -lX11
/software/@sys/usr/lib/libpangox-1.0.so
/software/@sys/usr/lib/libpango-1.0.so
/software/@sys/usr/lib/libgobject-2.0.so
/software/@sys/usr/lib/libgmodule-2.0.so
/software/@sys/usr/lib/libglib-2.0.so -ltiff
/software/@sys/usr/lib/libjpeg.so -lpng -lz -lm x11/.libs/libgdk-x11.al
-R/software/@sys/usr/lib -lc /software/@sys/usr/lib/libintl.so
/software/@sys/usr/lib/libiconv.so   -lc  -soname libgdk-x11-2.0.so.1 `test
-n "sgi1.4:sgi1.3:sgi1.2:sgi1.1:sgi1.0:sgi1.5" && echo -set_version
sgi1.4:sgi1.3:sgi1.2:sgi1.1:sgi1.0:sgi1.5` -update_registry
.libs/so_locations -o .libs/libgdk-x11-2.0.so.1.5
(null): WARNING 1  : Unknown option: R/software/@sys/usr/lib (ignored).

-------------------------------------^

ld32: WARNING 84 : /software/@sys/usr/lib/libtiff.so is not used for
resolving any symbol.
ld32: WARNING 84 : /software/@sys/usr/lib/libjpeg.so is not used for
resolving any symbol.
ld32: WARNING 84 : /software/@sys/usr/lib/libpng.a is not used for
resolving any symbol.
ld32: WARNING 84 : /software/@sys/usr/lib/libz.a is not used for resolving
any symbol.
(cd .libs && rm -f libgdk-x11-2.0.so.1 && ln -s libgdk-x11-2.0.so.1.5
libgdk-x11-2.0.so.1)
(cd .libs && rm -f libgdk-x11-2.0.so && ln -s libgdk-x11-2.0.so.1.5
libgdk-x11-2.0.so)
(cd .libs && rm -f libgdk-x11-2.0.so && ln -s libgdk-x11-2.0.so.1.5
libgdk-x11-2.0.so)
rm -fr .libs/libgdk-x11-2.0.lax
mkdir .libs/libgdk-x11-2.0.lax
rm -fr .libs/libgdk-x11-2.0.lax/libgdk-x11.al
mkdir .libs/libgdk-x11-2.0.lax/libgdk-x11.al
[...]
make[3]: Leaving directory `/software/scratch/gtk+-2.0.5/gdk'
make[2]: Leaving directory `/software/scratch/gtk+-2.0.5/gdk'
Making all in gtk
make[2]: Entering directory `/software/scratch/gtk+-2.0.5/gtk'
Making all in stock-icons
make[3]: Entering directory `/software/scratch/gtk+-2.0.5/gtk/stock-icons'
GDK_PIXBUF_MODULEDIR=../../gdk-pixbuf
../../gdk-pixbuf/gdk-pixbuf-csource                                              
\
   --raw --build-list stock_add_16 ./stock_add_16.png stock_add_24
./stock_add_24.png stock_align_center_16 ./stock_align_center_16.png
stock_align_center_24 ./stock_align_center_24.png stock_align_justify_16
./stock_align_justify_16.png stock_align_justify_24
./stock_align_justify_24.png stock_align_left_16 ./stock_align_left_16.png
stock_align_left_24 ./stock_align_left_24.png stock_align_right_16
./stock_align_right_16.png stock_align_right_24 ./stock_align_right_24.png
stock_apply_20 ./stock_apply_20.png stock_cancel_20 ./stock_cancel_20.png
stock_dnd_multiple_32 ./stock_dnd_multiple_32.png stock_bottom_16
./stock_bottom_16.png stock_bottom_24 ./stock_bottom_24.png stock_cdrom_16
./stock_cdrom_16.png stock_cdrom_24 ./stock_cdrom_24.png stock_clear_24
./stock_clear_24.png stock_close_20 ./stock_close_20.png stock_close_24
./stock_close_24.png stock_colorselector_24 ./stock_colorselector_24.png >
./gtkstockpixbufs.h || \
           ( rm -f ./gtkstockpixbufs.h && false )
failed to load "./stock_add_16.png": Image type 'png' is not supported
make[3]: *** [gtkstockpixbufs.h] Error 1
make[3]: Leaving directory `/software/scratch/gtk+-2.0.5/gtk/stock-icons'
make[2]: *** [all-recursive] Error 1


What does it mean that png is not supported? The libpng.a is available and
was used for linking, configure selected tiff&png&jpg libraries to be used:

./configure --prefix=/software/@sys/usr --disable-modules
--disable-glibtest --enable-static=yes
[...]
checking for cc option to produce PIC... none
checking if cc static flag -non_shared works... no
checking if cc supports -c -o file.o... yes
checking if cc supports -c -o file.lo... yes
checking whether the linker (/usr/bin/ld -n32) supports shared libraries...
yes
checking how to hardcode library paths into programs... immediate
checking whether stripping libraries is possible... no
checking dynamic linker characteristics... irix6.5 ld.so
checking if libtool supports shared libraries... yes
checking whether to build shared libraries... yes
checking whether to build static libraries... yes
creating libtool
checking whether to enable maintainer-specific portions of Makefiles... no
[...]
checking whether to build gmodulized gdk-pixbuf... no
checking for TIFFReadScanline in -ltiff... yes
checking tiffio.h usability... yes
checking tiffio.h presence... yes
checking for tiffio.h... yes
checking for jpeg_destroy_decompress in -ljpeg... yes
checking for jpeglib.h... yes
checking for jpeg_simple_progression in -ljpeg... yes
checking for libpng12... no
checking for png_read_info in -lpng... yes
checking png.h usability... yes
checking png.h presence... yes
checking for png.h... yes
checking for png_structp in png.h... yes
[...]


And, back to the original problem, if I look in gdk/ subdirectory from
where comes the R option, I find it in file libgdk-x11-2.0.la:
 
$ grep "R/software/@sys/usr/lib" *
libgdk-x11-2.0.la:dependency_libs=' -R/software/@sys/usr/lib 
/scratch/gtk+-2.0.5/gdk-pixbuf/libgdk_pixbuf-2.0.la -L/usr/local/lib
-L/software/@sys/usr/lib -L/usr/local/BerkeleyDB.4.0/lib -lXext -lX11
/software/@sys/usr/lib/libpangox-1.0.la
/software/@sys/usr/lib/libpango-1.0.la -L/software/@sys/usr/local/lib
/software/@sys/usr/lib/libgobject-2.0.la
/software/@sys/usr/lib/libgmodule-2.0.la
/software/@sys/usr/lib/libglib-2.0.la -ltiff
/software/@sys/usr/lib/libjpeg.la -lpng -lz -lm
/software/@sys/usr/lib/libintl.la -lc /software/@sys/usr/lib/libiconv.la  '
$

ld expects either -L or -rpath , who will judge?