GNU Info

(libc.info)Tools for Compilation

---

Next: Supported Configurations Prev: Running make install Up: Installation

---

Enter node , (file) or (file)node

Recommended Tools for Compilation
=================================

   We recommend installing the following GNU tools before attempting to
build the GNU C library:

   * GNU `make' 3.79 or newer

     You need the latest version of GNU `make'.  Modifying the GNU C
     Library to work with other `make' programs would be so difficult
     that we recommend you port GNU `make' instead.  *Really.*  We
     recommend version GNU `make' version 3.79.  All earlier versions
     have severe bugs or lack features.

   * GCC 2.95 or newer

     The GNU C library can only be compiled with the GNU C compiler
     family.  As of the 2.2 release, GCC 2.95.2 or higher is required.
     As of this writing, GCC 2.95.3 is the compiler we advise to use.

     You can use whatever compiler you like to compile programs that
     use GNU libc, but be aware that both GCC 2.7 and 2.8 have bugs in
     their floating-point support that may be triggered by the math
     library.

     For PPC you might need some patches even on top of the last GCC
     version.  See the FAQ.

   * GNU `binutils' 2.10.1 or later

     You must use GNU binutils (as and ld) if you want to build a shared
     library.  Even if you don't, we recommend you use them anyway.  No
     one has tested compilation with non-GNU binutils in a long time.

     The quality of binutils releases has varied a bit recently.  The
     bugs are in obscure features, but glibc uses quite a few of those.
     2.10.1 and later releases are known to work.  Versions after
     2.8.1.0.23 may or may not work.  Older versions definitely don't.

     For PPC you might need some patches even on top of the last
     binutils version.  See the FAQ.

   * GNU `texinfo' 3.12f

     To correctly translate and install the Texinfo documentation you
     need this version of the `texinfo' package.  Earlier versions do
     not understand all the tags used in the document, and the
     installation mechanism for the info files is not present or works
     differently.

   * GNU `awk' 3.0, or some other POSIX awk

     Awk is used in several places to generate files.  The scripts
     should work with any POSIX-compliant awk implementation; `gawk'
     3.0 and `mawk' 1.3 are known to work.

   * Perl 5

     Perl is not required, but it is used if present to test the
     installation.  We may decide to use it elsewhere in the future.

   * GNU `sed' 3.02 or newer

     Sed is used in several places to generate files.  Most scripts
     work with any version of `sed'.  The known exception is the script
     `po2test.sed' in the `intl' subdirectory which is used to generate
     `msgs.h' for the testsuite.  This script works correctly only with
     GNU `sed' 3.02.  If you like to run the testsuite, you should
     definitely upgrade `sed'.


If you change any of the `configure.in' files you will also need

   * GNU `autoconf' 2.12 or higher

and if you change any of the message translation files you will need

   * GNU `gettext' 0.10.36 or later

You may also need these packages if you upgrade your source tree using
patches, although we try to avoid this.