> [ responding to someone else who wrote ]
> > Are you using libc 5.4.x? If yes, I think it is the cause of the
> > problem.
> > Try to downgrade to 5.2.18
>
> DONT do this. Libc 5.4.x fixes many things, especially security. Instead
> do the following (which is akin to how you make netscrap work on digital
> unix 4 where the same problems occur)
>
> Unpack libc5.2.18 libc.so.5.2.18 into /usr/local/netscrap/lib. Move
> netscape into /usr/local/netscrap/lib
>
> Add a new script 'netscape' that does
>
> export LD_PRELOAD=/usr/local/netscrap/lib/libc.so.5.2.18
> exec /usr/local/netscrap/lib/netscape
>
> Now only netscrap uses the old buggy library and you don't inflict it on
> the rest of your machine.
As far as I understand it, it's just the malloc behavior which is a
problem. Since you can recompile libc to use the old malloc (it's an
explicit compile time choice you have to make), you can then use the the
newest libc with everything without causing problems for Netscape's Java.
A precompiled libc-5.3.12 with the old malloc is in rpm format at
ftp://ftp.redhat.com/pub/contrib/RPMS/libc-gnumalloc-5.3.12-5.i386.rpm.
(Install with --force. Why 5.3.12? That's what Red Hat ships these days.)
I don't know of any programs broken by using the old malloc (I'd be glad
to be told of exceptions), but people who prefer the new malloc for
everything but Netscape can still use the script above to just load the
gnumalloc libc for Netscape.
doug.
dridgway@ucsd.edu