libstdc++

[worker201]

Today, a user at another forum needed libstdc++.so.5 to build something (RealPlayer, yuk), but he only had libstdc++.so.6. And he wondered where to get it. I browsed around, and told him to download:
http://ayo.freshrpms.net/fedora/linux/4 ... 4.i386.rpm
since this package provides that library.

However, someone else told him that this would be better:
% ln -s libstdc++.so.6 libstdc++.so.5

That sounds more like a workaround to me. What's the difference? Aren't these files updated specifically to deal with versions of gcc? Will the symlink solution actually work right every time? Or am I correct?

[Void Main]

The sym link will usually work for minor releases. Chances are if you were to recompile the program that requires it, it would link to whichever one you have installed so you wouldn't require a special version. Since we're talking RealPlayer here he can probably only get the binary version and would not be able to recompile/relink. In this case the sym link will probably work just fine. What I would do if given the choice is recompile/relink the app to the version of the library I have (especially if I have a newer version of the library that should be backward compatible). I don't run into this very often any more since I don't use any proprietary software and everything I do use there are packages for my version of OS (for the most part).