From: zlsiial@uts.mcc.ac.uk (A. V. Le Blanc) Subject: Re: Linux 0.97p2 compatibility Date: 7 Sep 1992 09:51:04 GMT
In article <k=pnyqq.genie@netcom.com> genie@netcom.com (The Genie) writes:
>Hi. I posted a message earlier stating how I've been having compatibility
>problems compiling (and running already compiled) programs with
>Linux 0.97p2 available from MCC Interim release at Tsx-11.
>
>It seems the problem was that the GCC 2.2.2d that comes as images
>Comp1 and comp2 are not compatible with the older versions of
>GCC 2.2.2 --> everything that was compiled before using
>the shared libraries must be recompiled. If I'm right so
>far, then all the binaries of programs at ftp sites are
>useless until a newer version is recompiled?
So far as I know, there should be no problems compiling anything with
the gcc installed from MCC interim release 0.97p2; that is, unless you
have the same problems with any other properly installed copy of gcc 2.2.2d.
If you already have a system running, you can upgrade using MCC interim
Linux 0.97p2, and it will not remove any of your shared libraries,
unless you already have gcc 2.2.2d installed.
Programs compiled earlier on your system should continue to run. Programs
from elsewhere will run if, and only if, they are either statically linked
or compiled with libraries either on your system or compatible with libraries
on your system. Most binaries available by anonymous ftp from various
Linux sites are statically linked, and they should continue to be usable
unless other problems occur (such as the st_blksize problem, the changes
in the system mount call, etc.).
>Is it possible to avoid this problem and make the
>2 versions more compatible? Would just getting
>the library files from GCC 2.2.2 and writing them
>over the 2.2.2d version solve the problem?
The two versions of GCC are compatible, in the sense that the required
libraries have completely different names and should not in any way
conflict. There is a special problem with X11 which is too complicated
to discuss adequately in this note. But please note that releases of
gcc have been carefully designed by H.J.Lu and others to allow for as
many factors as they can take into account.
-- Owen
LeBlanc@mcc.ac.uk