Baslinux mailing list

[sindi keesan <keesan2 AT cyberspace.org>]

> > As I noted before, the 100M of files (the compressed versions of which
> > would be downloaded at 5M per hour) needed to compile things would occupy
> > a lot more space on my computer than an upgraded library.  Sometimes I
> > prefer to do things the easier way.  Upgrading the library sounds faster
> > and easier than installing and learning to use a compiler.
> >
> Well, why don't you install the new library and report back to us?  Steven
> recently discovered that a much later library would install just fine on
> BL1.x, which would have been a great help to me about a year and a half
> ago.  I guess the problem was that there was such a small user base, that
> nobody had ventured to see if it would even work previously.  Please
> install the new library if you think it will help and report back to us,
> It might be a great help to some other BL2 user, and may help Steven in
> his development and support of the distro.

Why don't I?  I have no idea how to do this.  I am new to linux, have
barely managed to get the basics working, and would most likely completely
screw up a currently working system.  I tried once to replace one file at
a time and it all stopped working and I put back the old symlinks with the
RAMdisk version of BL2 and was astonished that it all worked again.  If
someone wants to tell me in detail how to do this I will give it a try. (I
think I can replace the old library from the RAMdisk version if I really
mess it up).  Don't assume I know much more than how to type.  There is an
sln (in some package which bl2 does not include) which in theory should
let you make new symlinks without depending on the old library (which
appears to have been my problem in using ln).  I could hunt that down and
try using it instead of ln. Nobody that I have asked (and I have asked
lots of people) has apparently ugraded their library so can't help me.  I
was really hoping someone more knowledgeable than me could do this first. 

 
> > Maybe the rest of you are viewing basiclinux as a challenge - how to get
> > the 2.1.3 library to work with all the programs you are interested in no
> > matter how much extra time and effort it takes.  The amount of disk space
> > taken up does not seem to be the issue here.  I like challenges, too, and
> > eventually I want to learn to compile, but for now I just want to be able
> > to find precompiled binaries that will work on my computer.
> >
> As I mentioned above, this is a problem that's endemic to Linux as a
> whole.  It's not just BL.  Though with BL, with its additional concern for
> running efficiently on older hardware, another layer of complication is 
> added.

In the case of Kermit, I know that the precompiled version would have
worked with Slackware 7.1 kernel and the upgraded libc6 2.2.x because they
compiled it for that combination.  They had not, as far as I could find,
compiled anything that would work with 2.1.x.   I have no idea if Lynx
2.8.4 would require upgraded files other than the library, or a different
kernel.  It does seem rather complicated.



> 
> > But my chances of finding what I want somewhere, precompiled, go up if I
> > upgrade the library. I will figure out how to do this somehow.  (I am
> > still hoping someone more knowledgeable will do it first and provide
> > complete beginner's instructions).
> >
> I think you will start encountering other problems.  You might find what
> you want precompiled, but you will run into other dependency problems.
> The quick and easy solution is just to go out an get or download the
> latest greatest, with all the bells and whistles.  That will solve most of

I don't like bells and whistles, in addition to which the commercial type
packages don't even work right on our hardware and don't include most of
what I want.  They are all gui oriented.  I am happiest on my TTL monitor.

> these problems.  But be aware that you'll be putting yourself on the
> hardware upgrade treadmill if you decide to go this route (you'll need the
> latest greatest hardware to run it: well, not too latest and greatest, or
> Linux may not yet have learned how to work with it [e.g., bleeding edge
> video cards]).

We do have one 'new' 1997 computer.  I really don't need a fancy video
card to run text-only programs.  

> > I will report back if I succeed in a library upgrade.
> >
> Sounds good.  If you find a distro that does better what you want, please
> let us know.  I'm sure all of us - including Steven - would be interested
> to know about and learn from it.

You may have a long wait for me to upgrade my library.  I also asked
people at my bbs (computer experts) and someone at Linux Gazette (who
helped me get mdacon working without modprobe and telinit - to use TTL and
VGA monitors on the same computer, letting you see two VCs at once)  and
nobody had actually done this.  Everyone had a different idea how to
upgrade.  SuSe has some automated upgrade program.  I bet most people use
something like that to upgrade with.  

One challenge per week is enough for now.  We got Kermit working three
ways, and SuSE installed.  Next week maybe the library upgrade, or X.

I have asked another translator who uses Windows what he knows about the
prerevolutionary Russian fonts.  There is also a very thorough web page by
Paul Gorodnyansky about russifying Windows.  (You can tell him hi from me
- I edited his English there.)  He answers questions in detail.   

> 
> James
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