whats "glibc"

[Maaz]

what is glibc ?

if the distribution of linux has glibc version 2.1.. then can I update the glibc version to 2.6 ?

Second if the distribution of Linux has glibc version 2.1 then Some Softwares failed to install because they requires either an earlier or later version of glibc .. why?

If a java app requires jre 1.2, that app can easily run if the system has jre 1.5

or If i am using MS Windows Server 2003, I can install any Application that can be installed on MS Windows Server 2000.

but in Linux if the Software I am trying to install requires glibc version 1.8 it will fail to install on the distribution of Linux thats using glibc version 2.x why ?

Regards
Maaz

[~sesh]

glibc is the GNU C Library. The GNU C library is used as the C library in the GNU system and most systems with the Linux kernel.

You should be able to upgrade glibc using the repositories provided, viz. RedHat (YUM), SUSE (Yast), Debian (apt). The only thing is the repositories should be up to date with the latest glibc version.

We can't compare how Windows or Java work, with how Linux works. Mostly, components will require a version or higher. It is all about dependencies in Linux, so all components are more or less the same version. For e.g. glibc v2.1 or higher may be required for a particular component.

[Vitaly Karasik_1 · Accepted solution]

Maaz,

glibc is the GNU C library.
Because almost all linux program use it, it's not a good idea upgrade or downgrade it - you can break system.

Of course, you can upgrade RHEL4 glibc to RHEL4.5 for example, but not to glibc from RHEL3 or RHEL5.

When you go to download some program (java, etc...) you should choose version appropriate for your linux distro.

[Alpha977]

Hello Maaz.

The Glibc are used usually when you install some software.

For example, are used for install Oracle, for compile some software parts.

There are most precompiled glibc for most distributions.

What distro are you using?

Regards

[Alpha977]

Hello Maaz.

The Glibc are used usually when you install some software.

For example, are used for install Oracle, for compile some software parts.

There are most precompiled glibc for most distributions.

Don't think about MS Windows works! This is another world.

What distro are you using?

Regards