[lug] Compatibility between glibc-2.1 and glibc-2.2

Fri Dec 7 15:20:32 MST 2001

I'm sorry... I think I didn't read the package version properly.  Now that I
look at it I think I meant to say glibc-2.1.92... I'm deriving this from the
package glibc-2.1.92-14.i386.rpm.

Yes, I'd agree... I try to stay as out-of-the-box as possible with third
party software.

Now... My concern, however is this:  usually with their update packages,
there are dependencies that prevent your from updating if you don't keep up
to date.  (Wow... That was stupid English.)  What I mean is this:

Glibc gets updated, then a week later, an update comes out to SSH... But in
many cases, SSH now depends on the version of glibc that was previously
updated.  Thus, if I don't update glibc, every update from there is useless
and, our security specialized tells us he's going to kill us.

Now... I don't speak from experience with glibc as an example, but I know
that this type of dependency chain has come up in the past with other
updates.  Does this chain not show up with glibc?  Or... Is there any way
around this other than compiling everything from SRPM?

Thanks for the education.  I'm still learning the finer points of
administering RedHat.  Until a year ago, I was 100% Slackware (which is
practically _all_ compiling.)  We switched to RedHat with the hope of saving
some administrative time using tools like RPM and up2date.  Now I'm just
trying to figure out all of the caveats that go with them.

Thanks!

-----Original Message-----
From: Riggs, Rob [mailto:RRiggs at doubleclick.net] 
Sent: Friday, December 07, 2001 14:54
To: 'lug at lug.boulder.co.us'
Subject: RE: [lug] Compatibility between glibc-2.1 and glibc-2.2

I would recommend against upgrading major versions when there are
third-party software compatibility issues to worry about. RedHat is very
good about maintaining security updates for older releases of their OS.

However, RH7 series has been out for a while now. The fact that your vendor
has not provided a RH7 compatible release yet may be an indication that they
are not serious about supporting your platform. You should get a commitment
from them on when they expect to have a GLIBC2.2 compatible version
available.

Now, when you say "originally built against 2.1.9", are you referring to
glibc-2.1.9? I don't think RedHat ever released a glibc package with that
version. Sounds like you've already been taking matters into your own hands.
For commercial installations, it helps to resist the urge to customize the
core OS if at all possible. Use only the versions that RedHat (or Mandrake,
Suse, Debian, etc.) provide, especially regarding core pieces such as the
kernel and major libraries. It really makes administration much easier in
the end.

-Rob

-----Original Message-----
From: Harris, James [mailto:James_Harris at maxtor.com]
Sent: Friday, December 07, 2001 1:31 PM
To: 'lug at lug.boulder.co.us'
Subject: RE: [lug] Compatibility between glibc-2.1 and glibc-2.2

Hmmm, these had come to mind, but how would a program work that was
originally built against 2.1.9?  I didn't do the compat libs because I
percieved them as older even that what the app expected...?

On a positive note, so far the app seems to be OK.  'course, I'm worried
most about leaks and eventual problems... But I guess we'll just find out.
The vendor's official response was: "we don't support it."  So I guess we'll
either have to take our chances with the compat, never update a massively
exposed server, or update entirely from SRPM.

-----Original Message-----
From: Riggs, Rob [mailto:RRiggs at doubleclick.net] 
Sent: Thursday, December 06, 2001 16:16
To: 'lug at lug.boulder.co.us'
Subject: RE: [lug] Compatibility between glibc-2.1 and glibc-2.2

There are compatibility packages that come with the RH7 distro that you may
have overlooked: compat-glibc-6.2-2.1.3.2 & compat-libstdc++-6.2-2.9.0.14.
These packages are there specifically to address the problems you mention.

-----Original Message-----
From: Harris, James [mailto:James_Harris at maxtor.com]
Sent: Thursday, December 06, 2001 3:10 PM
To: Boulder Linux Users Group (lug at lug.boulder.co.us)
Subject: [lug] Compatibility between glibc-2.1 and glibc-2.2

Hi everybody!

I'm getting confused with the recent RedHat updates on RH 7.0 bringing
glibc-2.1 up to glibc-2.2.  We have a box that we've patched completely, but
our third party application was apparently linked against 2.1 and won't
install now that we have 2.2.4 on the system.

Looking at the install script, we can easily fool the installer to work, but
the BIG question is: will be application be unstable running with 2.2 when
it was originally built on 2.1?  We've sent this question out to the vendor,
but anticipate that it may take them some time to respond, and I figure you
guys might know whether the glibc libraries themselves are compatible.  I've
tried going to the glibc web page but can't find any compatibility
information out there.

Does anyone here know?... Or are there any good sites out there that address
this type of compatibility issue?

Thanks as always!

James Harris
Systems Administrator
Network Operating Systems Group
EDS @ Maxtor Corporation
303.702.3853
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