version 1.20

Misc/FAQ

@@ -6,8 +6,9 @@ Reply-to: guido@cwi.nl (Guido van Rossum)
 Approved: news-answers-request@MIT.Edu
 
 Archive-name: python-faq/part1
-Version: 1.19--
-Last-modified: 2 January 1995
+Submitted-by: Guido van Rossum <guido@cwi.nl>
+Version: 1.20
+Last-modified: 7 Februari 1995
 
 This article contains answers to Frequently Asked Questions about
 Python (an object-oriented interpreted programming language -- see
@@ -101,6 +102,7 @@ Here's an overview of the questions per chapter:
   3.12. Q. Trouble with prototypes on Ultrix.
   3.13. Q. Trouble with posix.listdir on NeXTSTEP 3.2.
   3.14. Q. Other trouble building Python on platform X.
+  3.15. Q. How to configure dynamic loading on Lixux.
 
  4. Programming in Python
   4.1. Q. Is there a source code level debugger with breakpoints, step,
@@ -580,11 +582,14 @@ toplevel).
 
 3.8. Q. Python built with gcc for the DEC Alpha doesn't work.
 
-People have reported problems with both gcc 2.5.8 and 2.6.0.  The DEC
-OSF/1 cc compiler does not have these problems so it's probably gcc's
-fault.  One person reported that the problem went away when using -g
-instead of -O so this may be an option if you insist on using gcc.  If
-someone tracks it down more completely I'd like to hear about it!
+People have reported problems with gcc 2.5.8 up to 2.6.2.  The
+DEC OSF/1 cc compiler does not have these problems so it's probably
+gcc's fault.  The latest news is that the problem still exists but
+only when you use -O and only in the Modules subdirectory.  So one
+solution is to compile everything except Modules with gcc -O and then
+do the Modules directory with gcc without -O.  If you find a version
+of gcc which doesn't have this bug or if you can reduce it further to
+a particular file, please let me know.
 
 3.9. Q. I use VPATH but some targets are built in the source directory.
 
@@ -662,10 +667,9 @@ HAVE_PROTOTYPES.
 
 3.13. Q. Trouble with posix.listdir on NeXTSTEP 3.2.
 
-A. If you built 1.2, you probably forgot to pass -posix as mentioned
-in the README file -- this links with the right version of the
-libraries.  If you built an earlier version, that's also your problem
-(edit Makefile to add it to OPT), but you also need to remove this
+A. You need to pass "-posix" to the C compiler, especially in the link
+phase -- it uses the correct version of the C library.  The easiest
+way is perhaps to do "make OPT=-posix".  You also need to remove this
 NeXT-specific section from import.c:
 
                 #if defined(NeXT) || defined(WITH_RLD) 
@@ -682,6 +686,51 @@ version) you are using it will be difficult for me to figure out what
 is the matter.  If you get a specific error message, please email it
 to me too.
 
+3.15. Q. How to configure dynamic loading on Lixux.
+
+A. (Thanks to Andrew Kuchling):
+
+Linux requires that you use the GNU DLD library.  The stages of using
+dynamic libraries on Linux are:
+
+1) Get dld from [some -- see below] Linux site.  I believe the version
+number is 3.2.4.  Be careful here; the most recent GNU version is
+3.2.3, and doesn't support Linux; be sure to get it from a Linux
+mirror, not a GNU mirror.  Compile it and install the library libdld.a
+somewhere; I used /usr/local/lib.
+
+2) Get Jack Jansen's DL library; its location is given in the
+_Extending Python_ manual as ftp://ftp.cwi.nl/pub/dynload/.  Compile
+it and install libdl.a wherever you put libdld.a.
+
+3) Run Python's configure script, giving it the --with-dl-dld option,
+which requires a parameter giving the directory where you put the
+libraries.
+
+4) Recompile Python.
+
+If you run into trouble with this, send me some mail and we can work
+on the problem.
+
+I don't use ELF binaries, because I'd rather wait until everything is
+reliable; my current impression (and please correct me if I'm wrong)
+is that gcc-elf is still a bit wonky, and you have to compile the
+entire GNU library yourself.  I'd much rather wait until ELF is a more
+standard part of Linux distributions.  I suspect that once ELF is
+common, Python's configure script will pick up the dlfcn.h header file
+and dynamic linking will work automatically.  Time will tell,
+however...
+
+It turns out that Linux DLD is not on sunsite.unc.edu; instead it's
+located at:
+<URL:ftp://tsx-11.mit.edu/pub/linux/sources/libs/dld-3.2.4.src.tar.gz>
+
+tsx-11 has mirrors; off the top of my head, one is ftp.uu.net, where
+the URL would be:
+<URL:ftp://ftp.uu.net/systems/unix/linux/sources/libs/dld-3.2.4.src.tar.gz>
+
+
+
 
 4. Programming in Python
 ========================
@@ -977,7 +1026,7 @@ Anthony Baxter <anthony.baxter@aaii.oz.au> has written an interface to
 mSQL (mini-SQL).  <URL:ftp://ftp.cwi.nl/pub/python/PymSQL.tar.gz>.
 
 Tom Culliton <culliton@clark.net> has written an Oracle module.  Write
-him to get a copy of a late BETA version.
+him to get a copy of the latest version.
 
 4.15. Q. Is it possible to write obfuscated one-liners in Python?