Re: oops! need help!

[Craig P Prescott <prescott phys ufl edu>]

Larry Snyder wrote:
> ...but if there's a problem w/ the existing (or not) glibc, then
> things like ls, df, cp, mv, mount, and all the other stuff you need
> will likely be broken, as they're dynamically linked.  I wonder if
> firing up an install in upgrade mode then switching to another VC
> for a shell might be a better way to go...just my .02

Nod - that might indeed be a better idea.  But from `man sash` (since
Jonathan might not be able to run "man" ;-) ):

<snip>
       More importantly, however, is that many  of  the  standard
       system commands are built-in to sash.  These built-in com­
       mands are:

            -chattr, -chgrp, -chmod, -chown, -cmp, -cp, -dd,
            -echo, -ed, -grep, -file, -find, -gunzip, -gzip,
            -kill, -ln, -ls, -lsattr, -mkdir, -mknod, -more,
            -mount, -mv, -printenv, -pwd, -rm, -rmdir, -sum,
            -sync, -tar, -touch, -umount, -where

       These commands are generally similar to the standard  pro­
       grams  with  similar names.  However, they are simpler and
       cruder than the external programs,  and  so  many  of  the
       options  are  not  implemented.  The restrictions for each
       built-in command are described later.

       The built-in commands which correspond  to  external  pro­
       grams  begin with a dash character in order to distinguish
       them from the external  programs.   So  typing  "ls",  for
       example,  will  attempt  to  run  the real ls program.  If
       "-ls" is typed, then the built-in command which mimics  ls
       is called.
</snip>

So there is enough stuff available to do something useful.

Lots of stuff is there.  There are also some other statically-linked
utilities which you can still use without the glibc.  From an x86
running RH6.1:

$ file /bin/* /sbin/* /usr/bin/* /usr/sbin/* | grep static | cut -f1 -d:
/bin/ash.static
/bin/rpm
/sbin/e2fsck
/sbin/fsck.ext2
/sbin/insmod.static
/sbin/ldconfig
/sbin/rmmod.static
/sbin/sash
/sbin/sln
/usr/bin/rpm2cpio

So you can still insert any modules you want, etc.  Can even run rpm
(wow - didn't know that).

Later,
Craig
---
Craig Prescott                                (352) 846-3145 (Phone)
2011 New Physics Building                     (352) 392-8863 (Fax)
University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611  prescott@phys.ufl.edu