libg++ (the library used by g++) was probably compiled with debug info (-g). On some machines, recompiling libg++ without debugging can save lots of disk space (~1 Meg; the down-side: you'll be unable to trace into libg++ calls). Merely 'strip'ping the executable doesn't reclaim as much as recompiling without -g followed by subsequent 'strip'ping the resultant 'a.out's.
