To check which version of glibc you have, run ldd --version in the terminal.

  • BananaTrifleViolin@lemmy.world
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    14 hours ago

    Regardless of OS version? That sounds like nonsense. Only someone who doesn’t know how Linux works would believe that.

    glibc is a fundamental library that underpins Linux. Its been going since the 1980s and is constantly updated and patched.

    Similarly the Linux kernel undergoes constant evolution and change.

    No one can promise to support Linux regardless of the OS version because by necessity it is constantly changing. Even slow release cycle distros like Debian move forward with each major release. Backwards compatibility is actually a bit of a nightmare on Linux. Ironically it can be easier to get old windows software running on Linux than old Linux software.

    People running systems older than glibc 2.31 really should patch and update their systems. That package itself is already 5 years old.

    • VindictiveJudge@lemmy.world
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      8 hours ago

      Backwards compatibility is actually a bit of a nightmare on Linux. Ironically it can be easier to get old windows software running on Linux than old Linux software.

      I’ve been discovering this on Steam, actually. Square Enix released Linux versions of some games, like Life is Strange or the most recent Tomb Raider trilogy, but they’ll crash at the main menu if you try to run them. Similarly, the Shadowrun games from Harebrained Schemes assume that you have a configured .asoundsrc file in your home directory, which likely isn’t true if you’re on a distro that has migrated to pipewire. The .asoundsrc issue is easy to fix by just making the file yourself, but LIS and TR have to use the Windows versions via Proton to run at all.