On Thu, 2003-04-17 at 12:09, Rob Mann wrote: > Since I installed RH 9, my two favorite 3rd party applications no longer > work: Codeweavers crossover office (RH 8 version) and Ximian red-carpet > updater. As far as I can tell, red-carpet just doesn't like the new > version of rpm with Red Hat 9. Anyone know about that? Of course, I > could wait for the next update to red-carpet, but why should I have to? > Doesn't redhat want to be backwards compatible (at least 1 version)? There's nothing that says they have to keep compatability between any version. It's a courtesy, not a requirement. LSB/POSIX compliant applications should still work fine. It's stated in release notes and other places that many applications may have problems with threading if they have done it incorrectly (not according to standard). Which in your case is CodeWeaver's wine based product. > Crossover office is a total mystery. I get an error that it can't find > the installed applications. I just updated my CXoffice when I installed > RedHat 8 because of course the previous version was only compatible with > 7.3. I also tried crossover-wine which is sort of the GNU equivalent and > had error about "chdir to /tmp/.wine-rmann/server-302-43a3". I've seen > this problem (unresolved) on the web and really just wish I could get my > Codewevers product to work. You'll have to wait on codeweavers to fix things like this. > So, what is it now about Linux and backwards compatibility? Are all the > libs changing in such a way that they won't support previously installed > software? Unfortunately, for C++ based applications this is the case, the ABI for C++ applications still hasn't completely stabilized yet. For C applications the picture is a little better, because generally as long as they're doing everything according to standards things will work. > As far as I know, even Windows XP can still run Win 3.x, Win95 and DOS > programs and Mac OS X has a whole compatibility layer to run previous > MacOS software. Yes, but they're also many times larger, and have a lot of baggage they carry for the price of compatability that holds them back in some areas. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to see it, but I understand why it's not really there. > When is this going to change with Linux so that I can keep my OS up to > date and still productively use my third party (paid) software? Of > course, I'm sure there are a thousand console and GNU programs that > still run regardless of the OS version, but what about my shiny desktop > software? The Linux Standards Base is helping to solve this issue, and once the ABI for C++ is finalized I think the "apple cart" won't be upset again for a while. Unfortunately, you won't get sympathy from most open source developers or companies, most of them just respond with "sucks to be you, that's what you get for using something that doesn't come with source" >:( If you're looking for binary compatability and a stable system, then the Linux platform isn't it for now I'm afraid :( Quite frankly, the attitude of most Kernel developers towards commercial applications, etc. is repulsive to me. If you want a "stable" distribution that is frequently updated security-wise, and has good support, the RedHat Enterprise distribtutions are really about the only sane option anymore... -- Shawn <drevil@xxxxxxxxxxxx> http://www.warpcore.org/
