When I try to build the following program:
#include 
int main(void)
{
  printf(\"hello world\\n\");
  return 0;
}
 On OS X 1
Per Nate's answer, a completely static application is apparently not possible - see also man ld:
-static Produces a mach-o file that does not use the dyld. Only used building the kernel.
The problem in linking with static libraries is that, if both a static and a dynamic version of a library are found in the same directory, the dynamic version will be taken in preference. Three ways of avoiding this are:
Do not attempt to find them via the -L and -l options; instead, specify the full paths, to the libraries you want to use, on the compiler or linker command line.
$ g++ -Wall -Werror -o hi /usr/local/lib/libboost_unit_test_framework.a hi.cpp
Create a separate directory, containing symbolic links to the static libraries, use the -L option to have this directory searched first, and use the -l option to specify the libraries you want to use.
$ g++ -Wall -Werror -L ./staticBoostLib -l boost_unit_test_framework -o hi hi.cpp
Instead of creating a link of the same name in a different directory, create a link of a different name in the same directory, and specify that name in a -l argument.
$ g++ -Wall -Werror -l boost_unit_test_framework_static -o hi hi.cpp