multiple glibcs

[Mike Hearn]

On Sun, 05 Dec 2004 19:08:10 -0500, GMANE wrote:
> So instead I tried doing dual glibcs, with the new glibc being in /lib
> and the older one being in /oldglibc, it seems although that these programs
> where compiled to use the ld-linux.so.2 in /lib

You can use a specific linker by running it, eg:

/newglibc/ld-linux.so.2 /path/to/binary

The issue of newer binaries needing newer glibcs is a tricky one.
Typically this is because:

a) They are using new symbol versions. Unfortunately exactly what
   changes between the different versions isn't documented anywhere
   (or not that I can find) so developers can't make a decision about
   whether it's OK to specifically use an older version in the same
   of binary portability.

b) They are using thread local locales. This is a great feature that
   isn't useful at all for desktop programs, but they get it anyway
   via header rewriting. 

You can compile software using a variety of techniques to allow it to run
on older glibcs but no shipping software is currently compiled in this way.

Sorry ... GNU/Linux just sucks over a 56k line due mostly to huge platform
instability in the upper levels (glibc itself is relatively stable).

thanks -mike