How to install the program depending on libstdc++ library

Question

My program is written in C++, using GCC on Ubuntu 9.10 64 bit. If depends on /usr/lib64/libstdc++.so.6 which actually points to /usr/lib64/libstdc++.so.6.0.13. Now I copy this program to virgin Ubuntu 7.04 system and try to run it. It doesn't run, as expected. Then I add to the program directory the following files:

libstdc++.so.6.0.13
libstdc++.so.6 (links to libstdc++.so.6.0.13)

and execute command:

LD_LIBRARY_PATH=. ./myprogram

Now everything is OK. The question: how can I write installation script for such program? myprogram file itself should be placed to /usr/local/bin. What can I do with dependencies? For example, on destination computer, /usr/lib64/libstdc++.so.6 link points to /usr/lib64/libstdc++.so.6.0.8. What can I do with this?

Note: the program is closed-source, I cannot provide source code and makefile.

Answer 1

If you're working on Ubuntu, making a .deb (Debian Package) seems to way to go. Here is a link to get you started.

Your package will state it depends on some other packages (typically the packages that includes libstdc++.so.6.0.13 - i guess the package name is something like libstdc++) and dependencies will be installed when you install your own package using dpkg -i <yourpackage>.deb.

Afterwards, you'll be able to uninstall it using dpkg -r <yourpackage>.

Anyway, never ship such standards files with your own archive. Dependencies exists for this exact purpose.

Hope it helps.

Answer 2

The real problem is that you try to install a binary that use newer versions os common libraries that the ones available on Ubuntu 9.10. The best option should be to make a specific target for the old Ubuntu 7.10 an compile it with the old libraries (that's a backport).

Then you should make two (or more) .deb packages, one for Ubuntu 9.10 and one for Ubuntu 7.10.

Another possibility is to continue doing what you are doing now : set LD_LIBRARY_PATH to point to the desired version of libstdc++ and other necessary libraries. You just set this environment variable in a launcher shell script. In you script you check if the new libraries are available or not and you set your LB_LIBRARY_PATH (say to /usr/local/lib/myprogram/) only if needed. But as others poster pointed out : that's a very bad practice. Anyway, never try to put these provided libraries at their standard place in Ubuntu 9.10, you would risk broking the target system and causing update problems for users or your program if these libraries are officially backported someday.

But if you choose to include your own set of system libraries there is still another way to go than the above one: just link these libraries statically. If a program is the only user of a library as it will probably be in the above scenario you'll lose all advantages of using a shared dynamic library, then why bother with using it at all ? And with stacically linked libraries you won't have to install them.