🚀 go-pugleaf

alanf@bruce.cs.monash.edu.au (Alan Finlay) writes:

>I have an old Linux installed (slackware), the kernel is version 1.0.8 .
>Recently I decided to try out the network software and got the "n" series
>slackware disks.  After installation, none of the inet sofware seems to work.
>All I get is "bash: /sbin/ifconfig: File not found" or similar messages
>for all the inet commands.  On investigation I find that all these binaries
>are identified by "file" as ELF binaries.  The files seem ok, I just can't
>execute any ELF binaries at all.  I have tried recompiling the 1.0.8 kernel
>so I know ELF binaries are enabled.

>I guess I am missing some kind of ELF interpreter???

Ooh yeah...

You guessed it.  You're trying to run ELF-compiled programs on an
a.out system.  The file not found is the ELF /lib/ld.so file.

>Is it that the "n" series I got is for a later slackware distribution and
>I need to reinstall the "a" or "d" series for this later version as well?
>Is there any documentation anywhere about ELF?

Sure is.  The ELF-howto.  Check out sunsite or any of the aussie
mirrors.  Email me if you can't find it and I'll send it to you.

Converting your system to run ELF binaries (along with a.out) is not
difficult at all.  Easy, in fact.  Converting to *compile* ELF
binaries means installing gcc (2.7.x, 0<=x<=2).

>N.B. I am quite happy with kernel 1.0.8 and don't want to upgrade if I can
>avoid it.

You don't really need to do that.  I don't think so anyway.  But 1.0.8
is *ancient* and a lot of newer software just won't run with the 1.0.x
series.  The networking utilities in particular need 1.2.x or greater
(perhaps the later 1.1.x might work).  So perhaps you do really need
to do it anyway.

I *highly* recommend 1.2.13 - it's so godamn stable!  :-)
(Warning... it won't compile as ELF without patches).

Cheers
Tony
          ___                                                     ___
          L_|_                                                   _|_J
         ( -O>                                                   <O- )
      ___//\J +-------------------------------------------------+ L/\\___
     //-,\    | Tony Nugent         Email:                      |    /,-\\
    || / \\___L Griffith University T.Nugent@sct.gu.edu.au      J___// \ ||
  _ ''/\/ '---J Brisbane Queensland tnugent@gucis.cit.gu.edu.au L---' \/\'' _
 / \ //\\.    | Australia                                       |    .//\\ / \
|_/\'/  ||    +-------------------------------------------------+    ||  \'/\_|
    '   ||_                                                         _||   '
        |__)                                                       (__|