aboutsummaryrefslogtreecommitdiff
path: root/README.template
diff options
context:
space:
mode:
Diffstat (limited to 'README.template')
-rw-r--r--README.template125
1 files changed, 80 insertions, 45 deletions
diff --git a/README.template b/README.template
index d501d718df..02ef86c594 100644
--- a/README.template
+++ b/README.template
@@ -1,49 +1,84 @@
This directory contains the version VERSION release of the GNU C Library.
-Many bugs have been fixed since the last release.
-Some bugs surely remain.
-
-As of this release, the GNU C library is known to run on the following
-configurations:
-
- *-*-gnu GNU Hurd
- i[3456]86-*-linux-gnu Linux-2.x on Intel
- m68k-*-linux-gnu Linux-2.x on Motorola 680x0
- alpha*-*-linux-gnu Linux-2.x on DEC Alpha
- powerpc-*-linux-gnu Linux and MkLinux on PowerPC systems
- powerpc64-*-linux-gnu Linux-2.4.19+ on 64-bit PowerPC systems
- sparc-*-linux-gnu Linux-2.x on SPARC
- sparc64-*-linux-gnu Linux-2.x on UltraSPARC 64-bit
- arm-*-none ARM standalone systems
- arm-*-linux Linux-2.x on ARM
- arm-*-linuxaout Linux-2.x on ARM using a.out binaries
- mips*-*-linux-gnu Linux-2.x on MIPS
- ia64-*-linux-gnu Linux-2.x on ia64
- s390-*-linux-gnu Linux-2.x on IBM S/390
- s390x-*-linux-gnu Linux-2.4+ on IBM S/390 64-bit
- sh-*-linux-gnu Linux-2.x on Super Hitachi
- x86-64-*-linux-gnu Linux-2.4+ on x86-64
-
-Past releases of this library ran on a variety of configurations that are
-no longer supported. Porting the library is not hard. If you are
-interested in doing a port, please contact the glibc maintainers;
-see http://www.gnu.org/software/libc/ for more information.
-
-There are some add-ons which can be used together with GNU libc. They
-are designed in a way to ease the installation by integrating them in
-the libc source tree. Simply get the add-ons you need and use the
---enable-add-ons option of the `configure' script to tell where the
-add-ons are found. Please read the FAQ file for more details.
-
-See the file INSTALL to find out how to configure, build, install, and port
-the GNU C library. You might also consider reading the WWW pages for the
-GNU libc at http://www.gnu.org/software/libc/libc.html.
-
-The GNU C Library is completely documented by the Texinfo manual found
-in the `manual/' subdirectory. The manual is still being updated and
-contains some known errors and omissions; we regret that we do not
-have the resources to work on the manual as much as we would like.
-Please send comments on the manual to <bug-glibc-manual@gnu.org>, and
-not to the library bug-reporting address.
+
+The GNU C Library is the standard system C library for all GNU systems,
+and is an important part of what makes up a GNU system. It provides the
+system API for all programs written in C and C-compatible languages such
+as C++ and Objective C; the runtime facilities of other programming
+languages use the C library to access the underlying operating system.
+
+In GNU/Linux systems, the C library works with the Linux kernel to
+implement the operating system behavior seen by user applications.
+In GNU/Hurd systems, it works with a microkernel and Hurd servers.
+
+The GNU C Library implements much of the POSIX.1 functionality in the
+GNU/Hurd system, using configurations i[34567]86-*-gnu.
+
+When working with Linux kernels, the GNU C Library version 2.4 is
+intended primarily for use with Linux kernel version 2.6.0 and later.
+We only support using the NPTL implementation of pthreads, which is now
+the default configuration. Most of the C library will continue to work
+on older Linux kernels and many programs will not require a 2.6 kernel
+to run correctly. However, pthreads and related functionality will not
+work at all on old kernels and we do not recommend using glibc 2.4 with
+any Linux kernel prior to 2.6.
+
+All Linux kernel versions prior to 2.6.16 are known to have some bugs that
+may cause some of the tests related to pthreads in "make check" to fail.
+If you see such problems, please try the test suite on the most recent
+Linux kernel version that you can use, before pursuing those bugs further.
+
+The old LinuxThreads add-on implementation of pthreads for older Linux
+kernels is no longer supported, and we are not distributing it with this
+release. Someone has volunteered to revive its maintenance unofficially
+for at least a short time for the benefit of those using Linux kernels
+older than 2.6, but a working version is not presently available. When
+it is in working condition, we will make it available alongside future
+glibc releases. LinuxThreads will not be supported.
+
+The GNU C Library supports these configurations for using Linux kernels:
+
+ i[34567]86-*-linux-gnu
+ x86_64-*-linux-gnu
+ powerpc-*-linux-gnu
+ powerpc64-*-linux-gnu
+ s390-*-linux-gnu
+ s390x-*-linux-gnu
+ ia64-*-linux-gnu
+ sparc*-*-linux-gnu
+ sparc64*-*-linux-gnu
+
+ alpha*-*-linux-gnu Requires Linux 2.6.9 for NPTL
+ sh[34]-*-linux-gnu Requires Linux 2.6.11
+
+The code for other CPU configurations supported by volunteers outside of
+the core glibc maintenance effort is contained in the separate `ports'
+add-on. You can find glibc-ports-VERSION distributed separately in the
+same place where you got the main glibc distribution files.
+Currently these configurations are known to work using the `ports' add-on:
+
+ arm-*-linux-gnu Requires Linux 2.6.15 for NPTL, no SMP support
+ arm-*-linux-gnueabi Requires Linux 2.6.16-rc1 for NPTL, no SMP
+ mips-*-linux-gnu Requires Linux 2.6.12 for NPTL
+ mips64-*-linux-gnu Requires Linux 2.6.12 for NPTL
+
+The ports distribution also contains code for other configurations that
+do not work or have not been maintained recently, but will be of use to
+anyone trying to make a new configuration work. If you are interested
+in doing a port, please contact the glibc maintainers; see
+http://www.gnu.org/software/libc/ for more information.
+
+See the file INSTALL to find out how to configure, build, and install
+the GNU C Library. You might also consider reading the WWW pages for
+the C library at http://www.gnu.org/software/libc/.
+
+The GNU C Library is (almost) completely documented by the Texinfo manual
+found in the `manual/' subdirectory. The manual is still being updated
+and contains some known errors and omissions; we regret that we do not
+have the resources to work on the manual as much as we would like. For
+corrections to the manual, please file a bug in the `manual' component,
+following the bug-reporting instructions below. Please be sure to check
+the manual in the current development sources to see if your problem has
+already been corrected.
The file NOTES contains a description of the feature-test macros used
in the GNU C library, explaining how you can tell the library what