libc5 Compatibility in Red Hat 7?

A curious Anonymous Coward wrote in with this important issue: "RedHat Linux 7.0 does not include libc5 compatibility libraries. Trying to run an old binary (RH4.2 or earlier) generates a "no such file or directory" error. To what extent does Red Hat commit to binary backward compatibility? Is it possible to get libc5-based programs, such as MATLAB, working under RH 7 without recompiling?"

Comments

Yeah, not even on the Powertools CD!

[BitMan]

If I didn't miss anything in my investigation, it looks like RedHat did not even put them on the Powertools CD! That is a _huge_ mistake IMHO!

They should always include anything that gives you backwards compatibility, even if they put it on a separate CD -- like the Powertools CD. Heck, it looks like they have at least 50MB free on it! Why not RedHat? [ And to think I've stuck with RedHat all these years because they don't pull stuff like this! Ha! ]

-- Bryan "TheBS" Smith

Library dependancy issues.

[shippo]

If you need to run some libc5 only binary, you also often require other libc5 shared libraries as well as libc5, due to these libraries also being dynamically linked against libc5. Loading the wrong library will result in segfaults. Common libraries include ncurses, the various C++ libraries, and some XFree86 libraries.

Ld.so can differentiate between libraries dynamically linked against different libc versions, loading the correct one.

wow they really are getting a bad rep

[josepha48]

With the release of Rh 7.0 I have seen more articles about RH 7.0 and how so many people are pissed off at what they have done to it.

Now about the libc5 thing. I'd recommend recompiling, especially if it is an X program. Most newer programs use libc6 anyway, maybe it is time for you to upgrade your software. Unfortuantely that is the way of the software world.

Examples: Java jdk 1.02 vs 1.1. gtk1.0 vs 1.2. libc5 vs libc6. Does anyone use jdk 1.02 anymore? Not if they are doing something new. Maybe legacy software, in which case it is time to upgrade that software. Even in windows there are incompatibilities between win 3.1 and 95, and 98, NT 3.51, NT 4.0 and win 2k. Not only between major software releases but also between service packs. This is the 'trend' in software.

Personally I think that they should and need to have compatibility in RH 7.0 though, only if they boast that you can upgrade from 2.0 or later with the install cd. Anyone who has been using RH since 2 or 4 and has upgraded there machines probably still has lots of libc5 programs. Not that they may have come with the distro, but more likely because they have installed them on there own.

Just my .02 cents............

I don't want a lot, I just want it all!
Flame away, I have a hose!