Re: [Plib-users] Fw: "Could not find working GLU library" when compiling,

[Kieran O'C. <ki...@ti...>]

----- Original Message -----
From: Steve Baker <sjb...@ai...>
To: <pli...@li...>
Sent: Sunday, September 08, 2002 1:08 PM
Subject: Re: [Plib-users] Fw: "Could not find working GLU library" when
compiling,


> Kieran O'Callaghan wrote:
> > I am not actually having this problem anymore.  I figured it out.  The
> > instructions on downloading and installing PLIB on the PLIB site
> > helped point me in the right direction. It always bothers me,
> > however, when someone writes to simply create a symbolic link in
> > one directory to the library file for X in another directory without
> > giving the slightest hint what the files themselves may be named.
>
> The problem is that the files are *not* in the right place.  Given they
> are not where they are supposed to be, it's just a matter of guesswork
> as to where they actually got installed.  So giving definitive statements
> as to where to link to is impossible.

I got that the files were not in the right place from the download and
installation page.  It said that they should be under /usr/lib and that
some distros still put them under /usr/X11R6/lib, which is not following
the standard.  Without that information, I would have been completely
lost.  Sorry if I was unclear.  The directions are about as clear as can
be expected really.  The only thing I thought might help a little in the
search was actually knowing the names of the libraries: libGLU.so.1
and libglut.so.1.  They are a little hard to find without knowing the
name beforehand.  Not incredibly so, but enough to discourage
someone who is not willing to spend a little bit of time on it with
no promise of success.  The fact that one has caps in the name and
the other does not can lead to a bit of frustration.
In any case, I have been working in tech support and I keep on
getting people who have been speaking to another tech who gave
them detailed instructions about what to do to solve the problem.
Then, the poor confused user calls back saying things like:  "Baaa,
baaa.  I downloaded the file, now what do I do?"  Baaa, baaa.
Then I consult the notes for the persons case and they are along
the lines of "user had a problem.  Told user how to fix problem",
with no mention of any fixes that were suggested.   You would
think that I could work backwards from the file name of the file
the person downloaded, but they usually do not actually know the
file name, nor do they know where to look to find the file, nor can
they tell me where they got it, nor can they tell me the air speed
velocity of an unladen swallow.  So, whenever I run into a
problem, I like to make notes about it, and I just thought that
someone might benifit from those notes.
That's the only reason I put that on this list.
Anyway.  I've babbled enough.
Since you're obviously reading this list, I might as well add:
Thanks for the great games Steve.

Ok, I'm off.

> > After installing that, the .configure script worked.  Possibly all those
> > manual symbolic links I made would have been completely unneccessary if
> > I had installed those RPMS to begin with.  In any case, it works now.
>
> There *is* a standard for where those files are supposed to be (it's
> called "The OpenGL ABI for Linux") - however some of the older distro's
> didn't adhere to it.
>
> ----------------------------- Steve Baker -------------------------------
> Mail : <sjb...@ai...>   WorkMail: <sj...@li...>
> URLs : http://www.sjbaker.org
>         http://plib.sf.net http://tuxaqfh.sf.net http://tuxkart.sf.net
>         http://prettypoly.sf.net http://freeglut.sf.net
>         http://toobular.sf.net   http://lodestone.sf.net
>
>
>
>
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