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the "g" in libraries (was: where is xlib6g-dbg ?)



On Fri, Mar 05, 1999 at 01:21:30PM +0100, Josip Rodin wrote:
> On Fri, Mar 05, 1999 at 04:45:38AM -0500, Branden Robinson wrote:
> > > I was wondering if there is a xlib6g-dbg package. I have a problem with
> > 
> > Not yet.  I have plans to make one for potato (xlib6g-dbg and xlib6-altdbg,
> > both).
> 
> Why the 'g' in the name? Why not just xlib6-dbg?

This is a very old practice dating back to pre-hamm (Debian 2.0) days.

The "g" indicates that the library has been compiled against libc6 a.k.a.
glibc2, the GNU C Library.

libc5 and libc6 are completely incompatible from a binary point of view,
and we needed a way to distinguish libraries based on libc5 from ones based
on libc6.  If you see a library with seemingly superfluous "g" in its name,
it is the libc6 version.

Libraries that have packaged for the first time after the release of hamm
typically do not have a libc5 compatibility version, and omit the "g".

-- 
G. Branden Robinson              |    Communism is just one step on the long
Debian GNU/Linux                 |    road from capitalism to capitalism.
branden@ecn.purdue.edu           |    -- Russian saying
cartoon.ecn.purdue.edu/~branden/ |

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