glibc/README
Joseph Myers 5b4ecd3f95 Require Linux 3.2 except on x86 / x86_64, 3.2 headers everywhere.
In <https://sourceware.org/ml/libc-alpha/2016-01/msg00885.html> I
proposed a minimum Linux kernel version of 3.2 for glibc 2.24, since
Linux 2.6.32 has reached EOL.

In the discussion in February, some concerns were expressed about
compatibility with OpenVZ containers.  It's not clear that these are
real issues, given OpenVZ backporting kernel features and faking the
kernel version for guest software, as discussed in
<https://sourceware.org/ml/libc-alpha/2016-02/msg00278.html>.  It's
also not clear that supporting running GNU/Linux distributions from
late 2016 (at the earliest) on a kernel series from 2009 is a sensible
expectation.  However, as an interim step, this patch increases the
requirement everywhere except x86 / x86_64 (since the controversy was
only about those architectures); the special caveats and settings can
easily be removed later when we're ready to increase the requirements
on x86 / x86_64 (and if someone would like to raise the issue on LWN
as suggested in the previous discussion, that would be welcome).  3.2
kernel headers are required everywhere by this patch.

(x32 already requires 3.4 or later, so is unaffected by this patch.)

As usual for such a change, this patch only changes the configure
scripts and associated documentation.  The intent is to follow up with
removal of dead __LINUX_KERNEL_VERSION conditionals.  Each __ASSUME_*
or other macro that becomes dead can then be removed independently.

Tested for x86_64 and x86.

	* sysdeps/unix/sysv/linux/configure.ac (LIBC_LINUX_VERSION):
	Define to 3.2.0.
	(arch_minimum_kernel): Likewise.
	* sysdeps/unix/sysv/linux/configure: Regenerated.
	* sysdeps/unix/sysv/linux/i386/configure.ac (arch_minimum_kernel):
	Define to 2.6.32.
	* sysdeps/unix/sysv/linux/i386/configure: Regenerated.
	* sysdeps/unix/sysv/linux/x86_64/64/configure.ac
	(arch_minimum_kernel): Define to 2.6.32.
	* sysdeps/unix/sysv/linux/x86_64/64/configure: Regenerated.
	* README: Document Linux 3.2 requirement.
	* manual/install.texi (Linux): Document Linux 3.2 headers
	requirement.
	* INSTALL: Regenerated.
2016-02-24 17:15:12 +00:00

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This directory contains the sources of the GNU C Library.
See the file "version.h" for what release version you have.
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[4567]86-*-gnu. The current
GNU/Hurd support requires out-of-tree patches that will eventually be
incorporated into an official GNU C Library release.
When working with Linux kernels, this version of the GNU C Library
requires Linux kernel version 3.2 or later on all architectures except
i[4567]86 and x86_64, where Linux kernel version 2.6.32 or later
suffices.
Also note that the shared version of the libgcc_s library must be
installed for the pthread library to work correctly.
The GNU C Library supports these configurations for using Linux kernels:
aarch64*-*-linux-gnu
alpha*-*-linux-gnu
arm-*-linux-gnueabi
hppa-*-linux-gnu Not currently functional without patches.
i[4567]86-*-linux-gnu
x86_64-*-linux-gnu Can build either x86_64 or x32
ia64-*-linux-gnu
m68k-*-linux-gnu
microblaze*-*-linux-gnu
mips-*-linux-gnu
mips64-*-linux-gnu
powerpc-*-linux-gnu Hardware or software floating point, BE only.
powerpc64*-*-linux-gnu Big-endian and little-endian.
s390-*-linux-gnu
s390x-*-linux-gnu
sh[34]-*-linux-gnu
sparc*-*-linux-gnu
sparc64*-*-linux-gnu
tilegx-*-linux-gnu
tilepro-*-linux-gnu
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.
Please see http://www.gnu.org/software/libc/bugs.html for bug reporting
information. We are now using the Bugzilla system to track all bug reports.
This web page gives detailed information on how to report bugs properly.
The GNU C Library is free software. See the file COPYING.LIB for copying
conditions, and LICENSES for notices about a few contributions that require
these additional notices to be distributed. License copyright years may be
listed using range notation, e.g., 1996-2015, indicating that every year in
the range, inclusive, is a copyrightable year that would otherwise be listed
individually.