Very Computer

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    Step 1: Install OpenLinux 1.1 "Lite"

    Step 2: Configure & tweak everything

    Step 3: Install about 300 meg of files

    Step 4: Discover that nearly everything you want to do requires RH
5.2, not RH 4.2 which is what OL 1.1 is.

The actual problem I'm up against right now is when I try to install DBI
the 'perl Makefile.PL' says everything's okay, then 'make' claims it
can't find dozens of common C header files like stdlib.h, in.h,
params.h, etc. So I start installing gcc-2*.rpm and its dependencies
over and over again, then finding the h files it emits and copying them
into the directory 'makefile' seems to be looking at.

I have no stdio.h on the box. I thought Linux came with a complete C
compiler built-in.

I'm going to get OpenLinux 1.3 and try to refresh my install. This
should give me a clean image with the correct configurations, and just
maybe I'l get a viable stdio.h.

On a Real Computer, the OS install program does not insist on wiping out
the hard drive. Caldera's installer is going to require I reformat.

How do I upgrade the install without reformatting the drive? I don't
think I'l want to mount the CD, go to its RPMS directory, and call
'rpm -U *.rpm'. That's just going to research the existing (bad)
configuration and then*it up more, right?

Any hints welcome. Like hopefully before I start.

  --  Phlip at politizen dot com                  (address munged)
======= http://www.veryComputer.com/~tegan/home.html =======

This stuff belongs in a _Linux_ group. You've got a messed up OS install (or a
poor one for your purposes)

Quote:>I have no stdio.h on the box. I thought Linux came with a complete C
>compiler built-in.

If you install it.

Quote:>On a Real Computer, the OS install program does not insist on wiping out
>the hard drive. Caldera's installer is going to require I reformat.

'Real computer'?

--

Alastair

Surely you mean "using a decent OS", not "on a Real Computer".  The
computer type rarely dictates the method used by an OS to install itself
(at least not at the level under discussion here).

--

Trinity Hall              Excession: http://excession.ucam.org
"For every complex problem, there is a solution that is simple,
neat, and wrong."  (H. L. Mencken)

Y'all are not taking your position fostering Linux very seriously...

Alastair escribi en mensaje ...

PERL dislikes gcc, which comes with Linux, and they'r all GNU. Don't pass
the buck.

Quote:>You've got a messed up OS install (or a
>poor one for your purposes)

My fault for going with OpenLinux 1.1 _Lite_ when 1.3 is extant.

Quote:>>I have no stdio.h on the box. I thought Linux came with a complete C
>>compiler built-in.

>If you install it.

Having recompiled plenty of other stuff, including PERL, Samba and the
Kernel, I doubt I'm missing gcc. But unless anyone can tell me that all
those gadgets don't use <stdio.h> then I can only guess that "something
happened to it". Evidence mounts towards a reinstall.

Quote:>>On a Real Computer, the OS install program does not insist on wiping out
>>the hard drive. Caldera's installer is going to require I reformat.

>'Real computer'?

One with a widely tested install program, that does not force a reformat
just to install, maybe?

Without Real tech support I'm going to have to go for the reinstall - of
course I can backup all the files first, but (another dig coming up, folks)
running Win95 and upgrading it to WinNT I _never_ needed to reformat the
drive. Each and every one of the 6 or 7 times I re-installed!

  --  Phlip at politizen dot com                  (address munged)
======= http://users.deltanet.com/~tegan/home.html =======

Well, my understanding is that Debian is the GNU distribution.

Quote:> My fault for going with OpenLinux 1.1 _Lite_ when 1.3 is extant.

Sounds more like your fault for going with OpenLinux when Red Hat 5.1
is readily available; it can do an "update".

Quote:> Without Real tech support I'm going to have to go for the reinstall - of
> course I can backup all the files first, but (another dig coming up, folks)
> running Win95 and upgrading it to WinNT I _never_ needed to reformat the
> drive. Each and every one of the 6 or 7 times I re-installed!

Sounds like you just picked the wrong distribution.

--

Ray
+--------------------------------------------------+
+ I've gone to look for myself. If I should return +
+ before I get back, keep me here!! - Bill the Cat +
+--------------------------------------------------+

Alastair escribi en mensaje ...

Quote:>In fact, you might be trolling.

No, I'm trying to go from OpenLinux 1.1 to 1.3.

Quote:>I don't know the vagaries of Caldera's distribution but...

Then please stay off the thread - a slim chance it will be answered remains.

  --  Phlip at politizen dot com                  (address munged)
======= http://users.deltanet.com/~tegan/home.html =======

Quote:>Sounds like you just picked the wrong distribution.

When I install OpenLinux 1.1 the installer insists on formatting the hard
drive. Please nobody pretend you don't know what that means.

Which distributions don't require a reformat? I'm not talking about devoting
a career to learning how to upgrade each little component by hand via
'make;make install' - I mean boot the installer off a floppy and point it at
your CD ROM.

  --  Phlip at politizen dot com                  (address munged)
======= http://users.deltanet.com/~tegan/home.html =======

Quote:>...I'm trying to go from OpenLinux 1.1 to 1.3.

And the OL 1.3 install system (LISA 3.0) does, in fact, reformat the boot
partition.

I would like to thank everyone on this newsgroup for helping me learn this
valuable information before I started to upgrade, and would also like to
thank Caldera for mentioning it in their documentation.

I would _like_ to...

  --  Phlip at politizen dot com                  (address munged)
======= http://users.deltanet.com/~tegan/home.html =======

The best way to 'foster' anything is by reasoning and trying to figure out what
the problem is. You say you installed 'gcc-2*.rpm' (over and over again) and you
mention 'finding .h files' and 'copying' them to somewhere the 'Makefile' is
expecting them. This doesn't sound like a way I'd compile something.

I find it difficult to believe you have experience in recompilation at all.

'gadgets' is a strange word for Perl, Samba and the kernel.

Quote:>PERL dislikes gcc, which comes with Linux, and they'r all GNU. Don't pass
>the buck.

I really don't believe this. I (and many millions of people) have quite happily
compiled Perl many times using GNU compilers.

In fact, you might be trolling.

Quote:>One with a widely tested install program, that does not force a reformat
>just to install, maybe?

I don't know the vagaries of Caldera's distribution but, as I understand it, RPM
can upgrade or re-install without a 'format' (I assume you mean 'mkfs'). I don't
use RPM myself though.

Quote:>Without Real tech support I'm going to have to go for the reinstall - of
>course I can backup all the files first, but (another dig coming up, folks)
>running Win95 and upgrading it to WinNT I _never_ needed to reformat the
>drive. Each and every one of the 6 or 7 times I re-installed!

Almost definitely a troll.

I bet you use tech support a lot - what do you mean 'reformat'?

Tech support is available for Linux in 2 ways - free or not.

You must surely have a pretty screwed up system. How did you manage that?

perl -V
perl -v
uname -a
gcc -v
ld -v

A working system is easy.

Regards,

--

Alastair

Red Hat doesn't require a reformat, but it does make you go into single
user mode while you're upgrading (at least upgrading to 4.<something> did,
as I didn't use RedHat after that).

Upgrading a Debian system not only does not require reformating a hard disk,
it can be done while the services not being updated at that time are still
running.

That's all I'm willing to say on this subject in this forum. For more
information, go to one of the comp.os.linux groups, or mail me directly.

--
"My name is Not Important. Not to friends.
    But you can call me mr. Important"  - Not J. Important

Perl doesn't dislike gcc. The majority of perl's I've used have been
compiled under gcc, and these all work(ed) fine.

Quote:

>Which distributions don't require a reformat? I'm not talking about devoting
>a career to learning how to upgrade each little component by hand via
>'make;make install' - I mean boot the installer off a floppy and point it at
>your CD ROM.

RedHat 5.x lets you choose install mode: "install" or "upgrade",
and even if you choose "install" mode, you can select partitions
which should not be formatted(/home, /usr/local ...).
If you upgrade, rpm will try to save all your configuration files,
if possible, and  you will not even need to "boot off a floppy ...",
RedHat 5.x CD's are bootable.

By the way, I 've never had problems building perl with gcc.

Sergei - Happy RedHat 5.1 user.