Re: GNOME vs GNU gcc & glibc

[Raja R Harinath <harinath cs umn edu>]

Sergio Brandano <sb@dcs.qmw.ac.uk> writes:
> Raja R Harinath <harinath@cs.umn.edu> writes:
> >Portability has been one of GNOME's goals.  It compiles and runs on a
> >variety of Unix-like systems.  So, we are definitely interested in
> >hearing about failures, esp. on Linux, albeit on an "unsupported" libc. 
> >
> >Can you send more details rather than a blanket statement "relative
> >failure".  What exactly didn't compile?
> 
>  Yes, thank you.
> 
>  I use Slackware 3.6 on a Pentium-II, where I recompiled all the GNU
>  stuff in a separate directory and removed the old one.
> 
>  I encountered three problems:
> 
> 1. The compiler.
> 
>    When using gcc-2.7.2.3 (that is the one recommended by Linus for
>    the kernel), GNOME fails with gnome-objc-1.0.2. Spud suggested
>    to install egcsobjc, that is to use egcs instead of gcc.

`gnome-objc' is optional, in the sense that nothing else will fail if
it is not installed.  You will only miss a couple of utilities from
`gnome-utils', IIRC.

I may be wrong, but Objective C has been used extensively only
recently, and many of the bug-fixes probably happened after the
gcc-2.7.* series.

>    I also observe that GNOME is an GNU project, and the last GNU
>    compiler is gcc-2.8.1.
> 
>    I am now using egcs-1.0.3.
> 
>    egcs-1.1.1 failed to compile. I erased it, so I do not have the
>    errors. I can recompile it and report them, if needed.

This is more a problem with `egcs' than with GNOME.  I would suggest
that you file a bug with egcs-bugs@egcs.cygnus.com.
 
> 2. The libraries.
> 
>    GNU glibc-2.1 does not compile using gcc. Since GNU wants gcc,
>    the glibc-2.1 libraries are not anymore on-line
>    (see ftp://ftp.gnu.org/pub/gnu/glibc/glibc-2.1-README).
> 
>    I am using libc 5.4.46 plus linux-threads.
>    I managed to compile glibc-2.1 with my egcs; I did not installed it
>    because the tests (posix/test) failed. I erased this too, so I do
>    not have the errors. I can recompile it and report them, if needed.

Again, not a problem with GNOME.  To the best of my knowledge, GNOME
doesn't require glibc 2.x.  

> 3. GNU gettext.
> 
>    I want gettext. The following programs fail:
> 
>       gnome-media-1.0.1
>       gnome-network-1.0.1
>       gnome-games-1.0.2
>       gedit-0.5.1
>       GXedit-1.22
>       gnumeric-0.18
>       gdm-1.0.0
>       xchat-0.9.4
>       go-0.1.35
>       gnome-linuxconf-0.20
>       gnome-chess-0.0.2
>       balsa-0.4.9
> 
>    All the errors are like this:
> 
> >/sw/gnome/lib/libgnomeui.so: undefined reference to `dgettext'
> >/sw/gnome/lib/libgnomeui.so: undefined reference to `gettext'
> >/sw/gnome/lib/libgnome.so: undefined reference to `bindtextdomain'
> >collect2: ld returned 1 exit status
> >make[1]: *** [xchat] Error 1

I would suggest that you install GNU gettext 0.10.35.  You may have to
reconfigure the packages.

        $ cd /path/to/build/of/foo
        $ rm config.cache
        $ ./config.status --recheck && ./config.status 
        $ make

- Hari
-- 
Raja R Harinath ------------------------------ harinath@cs.umn.edu
"When all else fails, read the instructions."      -- Cahn's Axiom
"Our policy is, when in doubt, do the right thing."   -- Roy L Ash