Before you do anything else, you should read the file `FAQ' found at the top level of the source tree. This file answers common questions and describes problems you may experience with compilation and installation. It is updated more frequently than this manual.
Features can be added to GNU Libc via add-on bundles. These are
separate tarfiles which you unpack into the top level of the source
tree. Then you give configure
the `--enable-add-ons' option
to activate them, and they will be compiled into the library. As of the
2.1 release, two important components of glibc are distributed as
"official" add-ons. Unless you are doing an unusual installation, you
should get them both.
Support for POSIX threads is maintained by someone else, so it's in a
separate package. It is only available for Linux systems, but this will
change in the future. Get it from the same place you got the main
bundle; the file is `glibc-linuxthreads-VERSION.tar.gz'.
Support for the crypt
function is distributed separately because
of United States export restrictions. If you are outside the US or
Canada, you must get crypt
support from a site outside the US,
such as `ftp.gwdg.de'. `ftp.gwdg.de' has the crypt
distribution in pub/linux/glibc
.
(Most non-US mirrors of `ftp.gnu.org' will have it too.) The file
you need is `glibc-crypt-VERSION.tar.gz'.
You will need recent versions of several GNU tools: definitely GCC and GNU Make, and possibly others. See section Recommended Tools for Compilation, below.
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