[Evolution] Heads Up: Debian issues on testing/unstable

[guenther <guenther rudersport de>]

So I have been down that road way too often the last week. More than
once on a daily basis is sufficient to post this "just in case"...

There currently is a known Debian specific issue, biting a lot of users:

As a first step towards GNOME 2.14 in Debian, glib has been updated from
2.8 to 2.10. Since the apps haven't been properly rebuilt and released
as well, as a result, Evolution (and most likely some other apps) keep
crashing on the users. The solution first:

Start Evolution with a glib specific environment variable set:

  $ G_SLICE=always-malloc evolution


Some detailed information about the issues I have seen the last days:

* Evolution and glib from Debian *testing* currently suffer from the
  above issue. The only fix short of downgrading glib is the env var,
  till fixed packages are released.

* Evolution and glib from Debian *unstable* (and likely mixed sources as
  well) currently suffer from the above or another issue, as it seems.
  There are 2.4.2.1-2 packages available. Unfortunately
  evolution-plugins are not updated and left at 2.4.2.1-1.1, which
  results in about the very same. Definitely check if the versions
  (including package number) are identical. Update, if not.

The first issue currently really is on top of the list of questions on
IRC. The second one seems to be far less, and in fact I haven't come
across it the last few days.

There have been major changes and speed improvements in glib, WRT to
memory allocation. This is related to these changes.

In any case, if the above applies to you:  This is not an Evolution
issue, nor a GNOME one. This is a Debian specific issue, which most
likely will be solved once new packages are released. While I am happy
to help you fix the problem, please complain to your packager. ;)

Also, keep in mind that I am not a debian user myself.


Q: My evolution 2.4.2.1 (debian testing) hangs up saying "*** glibc
   detected *** double free or corruption". What can I do?
A: Try the workaround (mentioned above). You most likely updated glib
   and are now suffering from a Debian specific issue. You'll need that
   env var, until Debian released fixed packages.

Q: Evolution on Debian testing started crashing out of the blue. I did
   not do anything...
A: Yes, you did. See above.


Beware, crack approaching...

While I am at this topic, I'd like to take the opportunity to vent a
little bit. The following should go without saying, when asking for help
on IRC, especially for urgent or serious problems:

Listen to me. Answer my questions. Be precise when answering or running
a command I mentioned. Be verbose, give feedback. Don't run any command
without at least asking. Be responsive, and don't do anything else. I do
know exactly, what I am doing. Every fucking bit matters. And please
don't mind, if I am curt -- until we solved the issue. :)


-- 
char *t="\10pse\0r\0dtu\0  ghno\x4e\xc8\x79\xf4\xab\x51\x8a\x10\xf4\xf4\xc4";
main(){ char h,m=h=*t++,*x=t+2*h,c,i,l=*x,s=0; for (i=0;i<l;i++){ i%8? c<<=1:
(c=*++x); c&128 && (s+=h); if (!(h>>=1)||!t[s+h]){ putchar(t[s]);h=m;s=0; }}}