On Fri, Jun 20, 2003 at 12:39:45AM +1200, Philip Charles wrote: [lots of text snipped] > It is not a question of using non-free software, I use it almost > exclusively, but that of accessing documents that were created with > non-free software before there were free alternatives. > > Please remember this is 2003 and not 1983. People have accumulated a lot > on their HDDs in twenty years.
What it comes down to is this: Alternative 1: You, and rest of the minority who use libc5 program, can dual-boot an older distribution of Debian (say potato) where the programs still work. Yes, it can be a hassle, but it works. Alternative 2: Debian can continue to drag along support for libc5-binaries (hey, nobody out there with need for libc4?) to the end of days, with more and more problems accumulating, and more and more baggage needed to build them (for every new release of binutils/gcc/etc, it becomes less likely that libc5 will work properly without serious tinkering). Regards: David Weinehall -- /> David Weinehall <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> /> Northern lights wander <\ // Maintainer of the v2.0 kernel // Dance across the winter sky // \> http://www.acc.umu.se/~tao/ </ Full colour fire </