update of glibc

[Oliver Eickenberg]

Hi,

my current configuration is based on glibc 2.2.x (LFS 3.3) and i would
like to upgrade to a 2.3.x version. The main reason is to be compatible
with a newer installed slow-hardware lfs-box, so i can use my faster
machine to compile for it.

Is this possible by simply following the book in doing a new glibc,
overwriting my current libs, or is this more a thing of the category
"little chance to have a working system afterwards".

So should i simply stop, proceed or proceed with following some hints on
my way?

Thanks, Oliver

[Ronald Hummelink]

Post by Oliver Eickenberg
Hi,
my current configuration is based on glibc 2.2.x (LFS 3.3) and i would
like to upgrade to a 2.3.x version. The main reason is to be compatible
with a newer installed slow-hardware lfs-box, so i can use my faster
machine to compile for it.
Is this possible by simply following the book in doing a new glibc,
overwriting my current libs, or is this more a thing of the category
"little chance to have a working system afterwards".
So should i simply stop, proceed or proceed with following some hints on
my way?

IIRC, glibc 2.3.x demands gcc 3.x compiler which lfs 3.3 does not have
Upgrading glibc is VERY tricky business, it is not recommended to do so
even by the glibc maintainers.
Upgrading GCC like is out of the question since your c++ apps will
break. Maybe things will work if you install gcc-3.x into /opt, but even
then the glibc issue itself stays.

Even if you manage to upgrade glibc, there are other issues. Static
binaries verses the old glibc will segfault if they do nss-lookups.

All in all it is not recommended and the chance of a broken system is
significant.

Post by Oliver Eickenberg
Thanks, Oliver

[Christian H. Kuhn]

Hi Ronald,

Post by Ronald Hummelink
Upgrading glibc is VERY tricky business, it is not recommended to do so
even by the glibc maintainers.

Does it mean that i have to start from scratch everytime i want to
upgrade glibc?

Kind regards,
Chris

[Ronald Hummelink]

Post by Christian H. Kuhn
Hi Ronald,

Post by Ronald Hummelink
Upgrading glibc is VERY tricky business, it is not recommended to do so
even by the glibc maintainers.

Does it mean that i have to start from scratch everytime i want to
upgrade glibc?

Unless you dare to take the risks and are able to solve caused problems
You'd need to rebuild large amounts of your system possibly, so it comes
close to rebuild yes.

Post by Christian H. Kuhn
Kind regards,
Chris
--
When I die, I want to die like my Grandmother who died peacefully
in her sleep. Not screaming like all the passengers in her car.

[Andreas Scherer]

Post by Christian H. Kuhn
Hi Ronald,

Post by Ronald Hummelink
Upgrading glibc is VERY tricky business, it is not
recommended to do so even by the glibc maintainers.

Does it mean that i have to start from scratch everytime i
want to upgrade glibc?

On every linux-system is's a very bad idea to change glibc.

How did You succeed to set up Your LFS without reading the
book???

SCNR,

Andreas.

[Christian H. Kuhn]

Post by Andreas Scherer
How did You succeed to set up Your LFS without reading the
book???
--
Andreas Scherer <andreas.scherer at lingua.at>
Reg. LinuxUser #157823
EDV-Dienstleistungen Scherer
Tel.: [phone]
http://www.lingua.at - http://www.scherer.co.at

I won't discuss with people who do not know numbers above three.

Post by Andreas Scherer
SCNR,

The same.

Chris

[James Richard Tyrer]

Post by Ronald Hummelink

Post by Oliver Eickenberg
Hi,
my current configuration is based on glibc 2.2.x (LFS 3.3) and i would
like to upgrade to a 2.3.x version. The main reason is to be compatible
with a newer installed slow-hardware lfs-box, so i can use my faster
machine to compile for it.
Is this possible by simply following the book in doing a new glibc,
overwriting my current libs, or is this more a thing of the category
"little chance to have a working system afterwards".
So should i simply stop, proceed or proceed with following some hints on
my way?

IIRC, glibc 2.3.x demands gcc 3.x compiler which lfs 3.3 does not have
Upgrading glibc is VERY tricky business, it is not recommended to do so
even by the glibc maintainers.
Upgrading GCC like is out of the question since your c++ apps will
break.

Not exactly since you don't Upgrade when you install a new version of GCC,
you install the new version over the old one. This should not break
anything except that if you compile a C++ application with the new G++
compiler that you might need to also update any libraries that are C++.

Post by Ronald Hummelink
Maybe things will work if you install gcc-3.x into /opt,

That won't help. Since the new C++ libs will have a different version
number, there is no problem installing them in the same directory.

Post by Ronald Hummelink
but even then the glibc issue itself stays.
Even if you manage to upgrade glibc, there are other issues. Static
binaries verses the old glibc will segfault if they do nss-lookups.
All in all it is not recommended and the chance of a broken system is
significant.

Upgrading GLibc is dangerous. But it isn't as dangerous if you currently
have GLibc built from source on your system.

Basically, what happens is that you install it over the old version and at
the end of the install a Perl script is run to check the system. It will
either give you a one line message that it seems to be OK or you will get
an error message. If you get an error message, then you MUST fix the
problem before you attempt to reboot the system or you are dead. I have
done it several time and haven't had any problems.

--
JRT