On Sat, Sep 22, 2001 at 03:59:56PM -0700, Karsten M. Self wrote: > > I switched to Debian2.2r2 about eight months ago (at that time 2.2r2 was > > the latest distribution). Recently, I've been unable to build almost > > all the applications I have tried. The usual problem seems to be missing > > file dependencies. In fact, in almost all instances, the application > > called for dependency files that had become available after the > > distribution (lsl) had been written to the CDs. For example, yesterday I > > tried to build xpfd (reportedly a better alternative to acrobat). After > > completing ./configure, "make" halted with an error message to the effect > > of: libc6.2.2 or later is required and not found in memory. In fact, > > the latest version I have is libc6.1. > > You need the -dev versions of libraries for build support.
And you need to read posts more carefully before replying to them... He was not asking about how to build things, he was asking about why he constantly has to upgrade his libraries (e.g. the libc6.2 vs. 6.1 issue toward the end of his message). Sadly, the answer to his questions is: either run unstable and risk the occasional b0rked system or run potato and deal with the outdated packages on an individual basis. Unfortunately, Debian has never been very good at keeping up with upstream development. They said that the "testing" distribution and package pools would help speed things up a bit, but it's not likely that woody will be released fewer than 18 months after potato. Sure, stable is always well tested, but by the time it becomes available the software included in it is so old that nobody wants to run it anymore. noah (not looking to start a flamewar with other developers over our release cycle, but merely ranting.) -- _______________________________________________________ | Web: http://web.morgul.net/~frodo/ | PGP Public Key: http://web.morgul.net/~frodo/mail.html
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