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1 files changed, 112 insertions, 83 deletions
diff --git a/FAQ b/FAQ
index 73385871e8..6491b389ad 100644
--- a/FAQ
+++ b/FAQ
@@ -22,9 +22,9 @@ please let me know.
1.2. What compiler do I need to build GNU libc?
1.3. When I try to compile glibc I get only error messages.
What's wrong?
-1.4. Do I need a special linker or archiver?
+1.4. Do I need a special linker or assembler?
1.5. Which compiler should I use for powerpc?
-1.6. Do I need some more things to compile GNU C Library?
+1.6. Do I need some more things to compile the GNU C Library?
1.7. What version of the Linux kernel headers should be used?
1.8. The compiler hangs while building iconvdata modules. What's
wrong?
@@ -58,38 +58,41 @@ please let me know.
functions `stat', `lstat', `fstat', and `mknod' and while
linking on my Linux system I get error messages. How is
this supposed to work?
-2.8. How can I compile gcc 2.7.2.1 from the gcc source code using
+2.8. When I run an executable on one system which I compiled on
+ another, I get dynamic linker errors. Both systems have the same
+ version of glibc installed. What's wrong?
+2.9. How can I compile gcc 2.7.2.1 from the gcc source code using
glibc 2.x?
-2.9. The `gencat' utility cannot process the catalog sources which
+2.10. The `gencat' utility cannot process the catalog sources which
were used on my Linux libc5 based system. Why?
-2.10. Programs using libc have their messages translated, but other
+2.11. Programs using libc have their messages translated, but other
behavior is not localized (e.g. collating order); why?
-2.11. I have set up /etc/nis.conf, and the Linux libc 5 with NYS
+2.12. I have set up /etc/nis.conf, and the Linux libc 5 with NYS
works great. But the glibc NIS+ doesn't seem to work.
-2.12. I have killed ypbind to stop using NIS, but glibc
+2.13. I have killed ypbind to stop using NIS, but glibc
continues using NIS.
-2.13. Under Linux/Alpha, I always get "do_ypcall: clnt_call:
+2.14. Under Linux/Alpha, I always get "do_ypcall: clnt_call:
RPC: Unable to receive; errno = Connection refused" when using NIS.
-2.14. After installing glibc name resolving doesn't work properly.
-2.15. How do I create the databases for NSS?
-2.16. I have /usr/include/net and /usr/include/scsi as symlinks
+2.15. After installing glibc name resolving doesn't work properly.
+2.16. How do I create the databases for NSS?
+2.17. I have /usr/include/net and /usr/include/scsi as symlinks
into my Linux source tree. Is that wrong?
-2.17. Programs like `logname', `top', `uptime' `users', `w' and
+2.18. Programs like `logname', `top', `uptime' `users', `w' and
`who', show incorrect information about the (number of)
users on my system. Why?
-2.18. After upgrading to glibc 2.1 with symbol versioning I get
+2.19. After upgrading to glibc 2.1 with symbol versioning I get
errors about undefined symbols. What went wrong?
-2.19. When I start the program XXX after upgrading the library
+2.20. When I start the program XXX after upgrading the library
I get
XXX: Symbol `_sys_errlist' has different size in shared
object, consider re-linking
Why? What should I do?
-2.20. What do I need for C++ development?
-2.21. Even statically linked programs need some shared libraries
+2.21. What do I need for C++ development?
+2.22. Even statically linked programs need some shared libraries
which is not acceptable for me. What can I do?
-2.22. I just upgraded my Linux system to glibc and now I get
+2.23. I just upgraded my Linux system to glibc and now I get
errors whenever I try to link any program.
-2.23. When I use nscd the machine freezes.
+2.24. When I use nscd the machine freezes.
3. Source and binary incompatibilities, and what to do about them
@@ -188,6 +191,9 @@ may not have all the features GNU libc requires. The current releases of
egcs (1.0.3 and 1.1) and GNU CC (2.8.1) should work with the GNU C library
(for powerpc see question question 1.5).
+{ZW} You may have problems if you try to mix code compiled with
+EGCS and with GCC 2.8.1. See question 2.8 for details.
+
1.3. When I try to compile glibc I get only error messages.
What's wrong?
@@ -195,32 +201,27 @@ egcs (1.0.3 and 1.1) and GNU CC (2.8.1) should work with the GNU C library
{UD} You definitely need GNU make to translate GNU libc. No other make
program has the needed functionality.
-We recommend version GNU make version 3.75. Versions 3.76 and 3.76.1 have
-bugs which appear when building big projects like GNU libc. Versions before
-3.74 have bugs and/or are missing features.
-
-
-1.4. Do I need a special linker or archiver?
+We recommend version GNU make version 3.75 or 3.77. Versions before 3.75
+have bugs and/or are missing features. Version 3.76 has bugs which
+appear when building big projects like GNU libc. 3.76.1 appears to work but
+some people have reported problems.
-{UD} You may be able to use your system linker, but GNU libc works best with
-GNU binutils.
-On systems where the native linker does not support weak symbols you will
-not get a fully ISO C compliant C library. Generally speaking you should
-use the GNU binutils if they provide at least the same functionality as your
-system's tools.
+1.4. Do I need a special linker or assembler?
-Always get the newest release of GNU binutils available. Older releases are
-known to have bugs that prevent a successful compilation.
+{ZW} If you want a shared library, you need a linker and assembler that
+understand all the features of ELF, including weak and versioned symbols.
+The static library can be compiled with less featureful tools, but lacks key
+features such as NSS.
-{AJ} Please don't use binutils 2.7. That release contains some bugs which
-might make it necessary that you've got to recompile all your glibc2
-binaries when upgrading the GNU C library.
+For Linux or Hurd, you want binutils 2.8.1.0.23, 2.9.1, or 2.9.1.0.15 or
+higher. These are the only versions we've tested and found reliable. Other
+versions after 2.8.1.0.23 may work but we don't recommend them, especially
+not when C++ is involved. Earlier versions do not work at all.
-{ZW} As of release 2.1 a linker supporting symbol versions is required. For
-Linux, get binutils-2.8.1.0.23 or later. Other systems may have native
-linker support, but it's moot right now, because glibc has not been ported
-to them.
+Other operating systems may come with system tools that have all the
+necessary features, but this is moot because glibc hasn't been ported to
+them.
1.5. Which compiler should I use for powerpc?
@@ -237,7 +238,7 @@ variables. There is a temporary patch at:
Later versions of egcs may fix this problem.
-1.6. Do I need some more things to compile GNU C Library?
+1.6. Do I need some more things to compile the GNU C Library?
{UD} Yes, there are some more :-).
@@ -247,15 +248,15 @@ Later versions of egcs may fix this problem.
site. (We distribute compiled message catalogs, but they may not be
updated in patches.)
-* Some files depend on special tools. E.g., files ending in .gperf
- need a `gperf' program. The GNU version (part of libg++) is known
- to work while some vendor versions do not.
+* Some files are built with special tools. E.g., files ending in .gperf
+ need a `gperf' program. The GNU version (now available in a separate
+ package, formerly only as part of libg++) is known to work while some
+ vendor versions do not.
You should not need these tools unless you change the source files.
-* Some scripts need perl5 - but at the moment those scripts are not
- vital for building and installing GNU libc (some data files will not
- be created).
+* Perl 5 is needed if you wish to test an installation of GNU libc
+ as the primary C library.
* When compiling for Linux, the header files of the Linux kernel must
be available to the compiler as <linux/*.h> and <asm/*.h>.
@@ -298,7 +299,7 @@ recompile libc if you ever upgrade to kernel 2.1 or 2.2. To tell libc which
headers to use, give configure the --with-headers switch
(e.g. --with-headers=/usr/src/linux-2.1.107/include).
-Note that you must configure the 2.1 kernel if you do this; otherwise libc
+Note that you must configure the 2.1 kernel if you do this, otherwise libc
will be unable to find <linux/version.h>. Just copy .config from your 2.0
kernel sources to the 2.1 tree, do `make oldconfig', and say no to all the
new options.
@@ -307,8 +308,9 @@ new options.
1.8. The compiler hangs while building iconvdata modules. What's
wrong?
-{ZW} This is a problem of older GCC. Initialization of large static arrays
-is very slow. The compiler will eventually finish; give it time.
+{ZW} This is a problem with old versions of GCC. Initialization of large
+static arrays is very slow. The compiler will eventually finish; give it
+time.
The problem is fixed in egcs 1.1 but not in earlier releases.
@@ -675,7 +677,36 @@ not a symlink to libc.so.6. It should look something like this:
GROUP ( libc.so.6 libc_nonshared.a )
-2.8. How can I compile gcc 2.7.2.1 from the gcc source code using
+2.8. When I run an executable on one system which I compiled on
+ another, I get dynamic linker errors. Both systems have the same
+ version of glibc installed. What's wrong?
+
+{ZW} Glibc on one of these systems was compiled with gcc 2.7 or 2.8, the
+other with egcs (any version). Egcs has functions in its internal
+`libgcc.a' to support exception handling with C++. They are linked into
+any program or dynamic library compiled with egcs, whether it needs them or
+not. Dynamic libraries then turn around and export those functions again
+unless special steps are taken to prevent them.
+
+When you link your program, it resolves its references to the exception
+functions to the ones exported accidentally by libc.so. That works fine as
+long as libc has those functions. On the other system, libc doesn't have
+those functions because it was compiled by gcc 2.8, and you get undefined
+symbol errors. The symbols in question are named things like
+`__register_frame_info'.
+
+For glibc 2.0, the workaround is to not compile libc with egcs. We've also
+incorporated a patch which should prevent the EH functions sneaking into
+libc. It doesn't matter what compiler you use to compile your program.
+
+For glibc 2.1, we've chosen to do it the other way around: libc.so
+explicitly provides the EH functions. This is to prevent other shared
+libraries from doing it. You must therefore compile glibc 2.1 with EGCS
+unless you don't care about ever importing binaries from other systems.
+Again, it doesn't matter what compiler you use for your programs.
+
+
+2.9. How can I compile gcc 2.7.2.1 from the gcc source code using
glibc 2.x?
{AJ} There's only correct support for glibc 2.0.x in gcc 2.7.2.3 or later.
@@ -683,7 +714,7 @@ But you should get at least gcc 2.8.1 or egcs 1.0.2 (or later versions)
instead.
-2.9. The `gencat' utility cannot process the catalog sources which
+2.10. The `gencat' utility cannot process the catalog sources which
were used on my Linux libc5 based system. Why?
{UD} The `gencat' utility provided with glibc complies to the XPG standard.
@@ -718,7 +749,7 @@ files to the XPG4 form:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
-2.10. Programs using libc have their messages translated, but other
+2.11. Programs using libc have their messages translated, but other
behavior is not localized (e.g. collating order); why?
{ZW} Translated messages are automatically installed, but the locale
@@ -731,7 +762,7 @@ set up the French Canadian locale, simply issue the command
Please see localedata/README in the source tree for further details.
-2.11. I have set up /etc/nis.conf, and the Linux libc 5 with NYS
+2.12. I have set up /etc/nis.conf, and the Linux libc 5 with NYS
works great. But the glibc NIS+ doesn't seem to work.
{TK} The glibc NIS+ implementation uses a /var/nis/NIS_COLD_START file for
@@ -744,7 +775,7 @@ package; available at
http://www-vt.uni-paderborn.de/~kukuk/linux/nisplus.html
-2.12. I have killed ypbind to stop using NIS, but glibc
+2.13. I have killed ypbind to stop using NIS, but glibc
continues using NIS.
{TK} For faster NIS lookups, glibc uses the /var/yp/binding/ files from
@@ -755,7 +786,7 @@ Until ypbind 3.4 is released, you can find a patch at
ftp://ftp.kernel.org/pub/linux/utils/net/NIS/ypbind-3.3-glibc4.diff.gz
-2.13. Under Linux/Alpha, I always get "do_ypcall: clnt_call:
+2.14. Under Linux/Alpha, I always get "do_ypcall: clnt_call:
RPC: Unable to receive; errno = Connection refused" when using NIS.
{TK} You need a ypbind version which is 64bit clean. Some versions are not
@@ -764,14 +795,14 @@ you need the patch from ftp.kernel.org (See the previous question). I don't
know about other versions.
-2.14. After installing glibc name resolving doesn't work properly.
+2.15. After installing glibc name resolving doesn't work properly.
{AJ} You probably should read the manual section describing nsswitch.conf
(just type `info libc "NSS Configuration File"'). The NSS configuration
file is usually the culprit.
-2.15. How do I create the databases for NSS?
+2.16. How do I create the databases for NSS?
{AJ} If you have an entry "db" in /etc/nsswitch.conf you should also create
the database files. The glibc sources contain a Makefile which does the
@@ -782,7 +813,7 @@ database. Currently passwd, group, ethers, protocol, rpc, services shadow
and netgroup are implemented.
-2.16. I have /usr/include/net and /usr/include/scsi as symlinks
+2.17. I have /usr/include/net and /usr/include/scsi as symlinks
into my Linux source tree. Is that wrong?
{PB} This was necessary for libc5, but is not correct when using glibc.
@@ -793,14 +824,14 @@ in place before you install glibc. However, /usr/include/asm and
/usr/include/linux should remain as they were.
-2.17. Programs like `logname', `top', `uptime' `users', `w' and
+2.18. Programs like `logname', `top', `uptime' `users', `w' and
`who', show incorrect information about the (number of)
users on my system. Why?
{MK} See question 3.2.
-2.18. After upgrading to glibc 2.1 with symbol versioning I get
+2.19. After upgrading to glibc 2.1 with symbol versioning I get
errors about undefined symbols. What went wrong?
{AJ} The problem is caused either by wrong program code or tools. In the
@@ -814,7 +845,7 @@ price you might have to pay once for quite a number of advantages with
symbol versioning.
-2.19. When I start the program XXX after upgrading the library
+2.20. When I start the program XXX after upgrading the library
I get
XXX: Symbol `_sys_errlist' has different size in shared
object, consider re-linking
@@ -836,26 +867,26 @@ be possible that a symbol changed size when that should not have happened.
So in case of doubt report such a warning message as a problem.
-2.20. What do I need for C++ development?
+2.21. What do I need for C++ development?
+
+{HJ,AJ} You need either egcs 1.1 which comes directly with libstdc++ or
+gcc-2.8.1 together with libstdc++ 2.8.1.1. egcs 1.1 has the better C++
+support and works directly with glibc 2.1. If you use gcc-2.8.1 with
+libstdc++ 2.8.1.1, you need to modify libstdc++ a bit. A patch is available
+as:
+ ftp://alpha.gnu.org/gnu/libstdc++-2.8.1.1-glibc2.1-diff.gz
-{HJ,AJ} You need either egcs 1.1 which comes directly with libstdc++ or
-gcc-2.8.1 together with libstdc++ 2.8.1.1. egcs 1.1 has the better C++
-support and works directly with glibc 2.1. If you use gcc-2.8.1 with
-libstdc++ 2.8.1.1, you need to modify libstdc++ a bit. A patch is available
-as:
- ftp://alpha.gnu.org/gnu/libstdc++-2.8.1.1-glibc2.1-diff.gz
-
-Please note that libg++ 2.7.2 (and the Linux Versions 2.7.2.x) doesn't work
-very well with the GNU C library due to vtable thunks. If you're upgrading
-from glibc 2.0.x to 2.1 you have to recompile libstdc++ since the library
-compiled for 2.0 is not compatible due to the new Large File Support (LFS)
-in version 2.1.
+Please note that libg++ 2.7.2 (and the Linux Versions 2.7.2.x) doesn't work
+very well with the GNU C library due to vtable thunks. If you're upgrading
+from glibc 2.0.x to 2.1 you have to recompile libstdc++ since the library
+compiled for 2.0 is not compatible due to the new Large File Support (LFS)
+in version 2.1.
{UD} But since in the case of a shared libstdc++ the version numbers should
be different existing programs will continue to work.
-2.21. Even statically linked programs need some shared libraries
+2.22. Even statically linked programs need some shared libraries
which is not acceptable for me. What can I do?
{AJ} NSS (for details just type `info libc "Name Service Switch"') won't
@@ -882,7 +913,7 @@ option is using NSS. There is no switch anymore. Therefore it is
the behaviour of the programs on the system inconsistent.
-2.22. I just upgraded my Linux system to glibc and now I get
+2.23. I just upgraded my Linux system to glibc and now I get
errors whenever I try to link any program.
{ZW} This happens when you have installed glibc as the primary C library but
@@ -901,15 +932,13 @@ detect these situations. If the script reports problems, something is
really screwed up.
-2.23. When I use nscd the machine freezes.
+2.24. When I use nscd the machine freezes.
-{UD} It is well known that you cannot use nscd with Linux 2.0.*. There
-is functionality missing in the kernel and work-arounds are not suitable.
-Beside this some parts of the kernel are too buggy when it comes to using
-threads.
+{UD} You cannot use nscd with Linux 2.0.*. There is functionality missing
+in the kernel and work-arounds are not suitable. Besides, some parts of the
+kernel are too buggy when it comes to using threads.
-So you have the possibilities to run Linux 2.0.* or update to a higher
-version and start using nscd.
+If you need nscd, you have to use a 2.1 kernel.
Note that I have at this point no information about any other platform.