libc woes [was: Re: netscape/java]

["Alain M. Gaudrault" <alain gaudrault net>]

Ken Roberts wrote:
> 
> Zuccone Paolo wrote:
> >
> > At 04:14 PM 4/14/98 +0800, you wrote:
> > >i've just installed netscape 4.03 on my redhat 5 box, and am getting
> > >problems with netscape running java enhanced web pages.  If i turn java
> > >off the page loads just fine.  Turn it on and netscape disappears without
> > >warning.
> > >
> > I' ve used Netscape on Linux to see pages containing applets Java but when
> > the Java machine starts Netscape crashes and give "bus error".
> > I see this error with a lot of applets so I think that there is a bug in
> > the virtual machine but I' don't known how to fix it !!
> 
> This is a known problem with Netscape 3.x and 4.x running under Linux.
> It has to do with library incompatibilities.  However, it is quite easy
> to fix.  Go to this web page and it has everything you need to correct
> the problem.  Also, there are detailed instructions for setting up
> Netscape that will be of value to folks who are new to Linux.
> 
> http://members.ping.at/theofilu/netscape.html

If this is so easy to fix, why doesn't Red Hat include the fix, or a
pointer to instructions on doing so, along with their RPM of
Communicator?

This whole deal with glibc/libc is confusing me.  For instance, my
libc-5.3.12-24 RPM is installed under /usr/i486-linux-libc5/lib/, so I
d/l the 5.4.44-1rh42 binary RPM and notice that it puts its files under
/lib.  My /etc/ld.so.conf file contains the following:

/usr/X11R6/lib
/usr/i486-linuxaout/lib
/usr/i486-linux-libc5/lib
/opt/kde/lib

though I can't find the documentation indicating what actually uses this
file, nor what should be contained in it.  I guess I have a few
questions, then:

1) Do I need both libc 5.3 and 5.4 installed on my machine for any
reason?
2) If I do an "rpm -U" with libc 5.4, will it wipe out all of the 5.3
files (which, again, are in a completely different directory tree)?
3) Will I need to hand stitch /etc/ld.so.conf, or is there some other
mechanism by which libraries are located?
4) Will installing the libc 5.4 binaries solve the Communicator crashing
problems?

Thanks for listening.

-- 
A tantot.

http://www.gaudrault.net/
quality costs *less*

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