OFF TOPIC: libc, glibc, etc.

[Roland Knall]

On Wed, 24 Nov 1999 you wrote:
> Hi y´all !
> 
> Sorry for asking this question here, but that´s the only list I´m subscribed
> to. I always wondered what´s the difference between libc, glibc, etc.
> E.g. I´ve recently downloaded SNIFF + Penguin (an IDE for Linux) and when I try
> to install the rpm I get the following error:
> 
> root at TheMachine:/home/gstipi/downcrk > rpm -Uh sniff-3.2-Penguin_IDE.i386.rpm 
> failed dependencies:
>         libm.so.6(GLIBC_2.1) is needed by sniff-3.2-Penguin_IDE
>         libc.so.6(GLIBC_2.0) is needed by sniff-3.2-Penguin_IDE
>         libc.so.6(GLIBC_2.1) is needed by sniff-3.2-Penguin_IDE
>         libdl.so.2(GLIBC_2.1) is needed by sniff-3.2-Penguin_IDE
>         libdl.so.2(GLIBC_2.0) is needed by sniff-3.2-Penguin_IDE
>         libm.so.6(GLIBC_2.0) is needed by sniff-3.2-Penguin_IDE
> 
> I´m currently using SuSE 6.1. So how can I figure out what libraries I have
> installed and where can I get this GLIBC2 thing ?
> 
> Thanks,
> Gregor
> 
It's not as stupid, as you may think. glibc is the standard library for GNU.
All programms use in some kind of way this library. Now, there exist acutally 3
versions worth to be different.

First: Old distributions, such as RedHat 6.1 or SuSe 5.3, I think, used libc.
Actually version 5. This version should not be in use, in newer distributions,
and should you find it some where, it is for compatibility reasons.

Second: Newer distributions started to use glibc, aka libc 6. The actual
version is glibc 2.1 (glibc stands for GNU C Library), but here some problems
may occur.

Third: There exists a glibc 2.0 also, which is in common use. That means it can
happen, that you must use definitivly packages for this version 

Examples for glibc 2.0 and 2.1 missunderstandings is the driver kit for the
3Dfx Voodoo3 cards.

Now for your problem: RPM says that it could not found any of the 2 possible
glibc versions. That can mean two things. Either your rpm database got damaged
somehow, and the information got lost, or you really haven't installed a glibc
version. Second should not be the case, 'cause I do not think your system would
run anyways.
To get rid of the problem (You know whats comming? *g*) you have again 2
possibilities. First get from the Suse CD the correct glibc version (should be
called glibc-2.1-xxx.i386.rpm) or get the sources for the IDE (I do not know
it) and compile it for yourself. Another solution would be an update to a newer
Linux distribution, I would recommend RedHat 6.1 (guess what I use ;-) )

Hope this helps, greatings from Maxglan  ;-)
Roland

-- 
Roland Knall                                    	Don't take yourself too serious
mail: Roland.Knall at gmx.net                                 (by myself and many others)