libstdc++/6913: <fstream> totally broken?

David Abrahams david.abrahams@rcn.com
Mon Jun 3 06:42:00 GMT 2002


From: "Phil Edwards" <phil@jaj.com>


> On Mon, Jun 03, 2002 at 08:52:19AM -0400, David Abrahams wrote:
> > The FAQ says
> >
> > "Please read the installation instructions for GCC, specifically the
> > part about not installing newer versions on top of older versions"
> > ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
> >
> > So I followed the link trying to find that part, but I can't. Having a
> > mention in the FAQ but nothing [sufficiently visible] in the
installation
> > instructions borders on a cruel joke.
>
> On the top-level installation page, there's a bit recommending that each
> GCC get a directory of its own.

The way it's phrased, it sounds like the only reason for that is that you
might want to un-install it. I won't want to (I have to test against
multiple versions of GCC) and anyway I assumed that the -V option doesn't
work to select different versions if you follow that recommendation.

> On one of the pages linked from that page,
> there should be a paragraph pointing it out in more detail, but I don't
> recall where offhand.

Yes, there should be. However, I scoured those pages for "version",
"directory", and "older" and saw nothing relevant.

> If you feel that the existing wording doesn't jump out strongly enough,
> please do suggest alternates.  Some of us have been reading these pages
> for so long that we no longer see the words.

This is a no-brainer: in BIG, BOLD letters, on the main installation page
and on the release pages of the first version which had this problem, and
several versions thereafter:

<b><font color="#ff0000">CAUTION</font>: installing a new version of GCC
over another one with a different major or minor version number can cause
both versions to malfunction. You must pass "--prefix=..." as an argument
to configure in order to avoid installation conflicts</b>.

Actually, the configure script should take care of detecting this mistake
and prompting for alternatives.

> > correct system?
>
> Easiest way to to just delete the previous installation before running
> "make install" for the new build.

And how does one do that?

My installation prefix was the default, which appears to have been
/usr/local. Is there a description somewhere of all the directories and
files added by a GCC installation? How will I know which files to delete?

> Or, if you don't mind building it again, rebuild with a
different --prefix.

I don't mind rebuilding at all, so long as I know how to make things work
correctly.

Thanks for your help,
Dave




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