[1033] in RedHat Linux List
Re: your mail
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Erik Troan)
Fri Oct 25 21:06:40 1996
Date: Fri, 25 Oct 1996 20:57:49 -0400 (EDT)
From: Erik Troan <ewt@redhat.com>
To: Doug Ridgway <ridgway@routh.UCSD.EDU>
cc: redhat-list@redhat.com
In-Reply-To: <Pine.SUN.3.91.961025155403.10995D-100000@routh>
Resent-From: redhat-list@redhat.com
Reply-To: redhat-list@redhat.com
On Fri, 25 Oct 1996, Doug Ridgway wrote:
> You don't understand. The libc RPM I made *is* HJ's. When compiling libc (as
> distributed, with or without Red Hat's patches), the configuration script
> asks you to choose a malloc. This is a tradeoff between (claimed) speed
> and breaking some binaries, including Netscape. For people compiling libc
> for themselves, this is fine. Youse pays your money, and youse takes your
> choice. A commercial distributor, on the other hand, has to take into
> account what will work best for the largest fraction of their customers.
> Will they notice the speed difference? Will they want to use Netscape?
> Will it just work or will it break mysteriously, with a solution involving
> finding an outdated shared library, and writing shell scripts to convince
> the system to load it?
I do understand. HJ's choices are the standard in the Linux world. THe
new malloc code as advantages other then speedy, mostly in it's behavior
toward returning memory to the free memory pool which is important
to anyone who runs services that stay online for months at a time. The
new malloc code is an improvement on the old code and the straightjacket
of binary compatibility is not well suited for Linux. Yes, it's a pain
(the 2.1 kernel broke RPM because I did something nonportable for
example) but it's better then putting up with substandard code.
> I'm somewhat concerned about a cavalier attitude towards breaking
> commercial binaries. It's a good way to make sure that commercial
> companies don't port apps, or if they do, that they are sorry later.
Netscape was doing broken things in their code. It's straightforward to
write apps that work with all 5.x libc's and we tested commercial software
that's supported under Linux to make sure it worked with Red Hat 4.0.
Netscape is not supported under Linux -- it's not ever legal to use it
commercially unless you buy it from Caldera.
Erik
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Always hoped that I'd be an apostle. Knew that I would make it if I tried.
Then when we retire we can write the gospels so they'll all talk about
us when we've die. - "The Last Supper" from Jesus Christ Superstar
| Erik Troan = http://sunsite.unc.edu/ewt/ = ewt@sunsite.unc.edu |
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