Everytime I try to install a browser, I get this message:
http://img70.imageshack.us/img70/8128/libstdcso5er5.png

Does anyone know what I can do to fix this? I really want to download a better, newer browser.


Thanks,
Sir Loin

If you have a newer version of the library, i.e. libstdc++.so.6.xxx, I've seen some mailing lists suggesting that you symlink the newer version to the old, i.e.

$ ln -s /usr/lib/libstdc++.so.6.0.4 /usr/lib/libstdc++.so.5

(adjusting for your directory structure and where your libraries are kept. A quick 'locate libstdc' should hopefully point you in the right direction, provided you've already run 'updatedb' lately as root).

Another option is to search an rpm site, such as rpm.pbone.net or rpmfind.net for the libstdc++ package, and download & install the correct version for your distro. It's still worth knowing whether you have it installed and just need to update, have a newer version installed, or don't have it at all. Your distro probably has a mechanism for showing you information on installed packages.

What do you mean by "$ ln -s /usr/lib/libstdc++.so.6.0.4 /usr/lib/libstdc++.so.5" - I'm VERY new to Linux. lol I did however go to www.rpmfind.net and download libstdc++.so.5, but to no avail.

When I try to install FireFox, I get this:
http://img69.imageshack.us/img69/4003/libstdcso5oa6.png

Am I doing something wrong? Can someone please help me install a better browser, or at least teach me how to install appications? I REALLY am going to need to learn how to install apps sooner or later...

Which disto are you using, btw? That makes a _huge_ difference in how applications are installed.

ln -s creates a symbolic link ("symlink"), which basically says "Whenever you see this file, just go automatically to this other file". Think of it as an automatic redirect, of a sort. In this case, it would be telling your system to create a file called /usr/lib/libstdc++.so.5, but whenever anything needs to use it, they should go directly to /usr/lib/libstdc++.so.6.0.4 instead. Do not pass go, do not collect $200.

I'm not saying that you should use that method now, since you found a package with the correct version.
So, you found libstdc++.so.5, installed it as root, and things are still complaining that they're missing it? I would recommend, first, to run 'ldconfig' as root. Sometimes it helps things, sometimes it doesn't, but I do it whenever I'm fooling around with libraries. Then drop back down out of root and try running firefox again as your normal user. If that still doesn't work, we'll need to figure out where it got installed, and where Firefox is looking for it

A final tidbit of information: with .sh files, you typically have to run them via the 'sh' command, like:

sh ./run-mozilla.sh

That might not do anything, since the firefox executable is what you're supposed to be running here. But it's worth knowing for future installation

I'm using Mandriva. When I ran Idconfig, nothing happened, well, nothing noticable happened. I can't do ANYTHING on Linux, it's so frustrating. lol

I just realized I HATE Linux. It is the worst. lol You can't do anything you actually want to do, and installing applications is a pain in the nuts. I don't know if Mandriva just sucks, or all distros suck. Linux is FAR from user-friendly.

Well, it depends, honestly, on what you want to do and how willing you are to tinker with it 'til it works. User-friendly OS? No. Something to while away a few extra hours [and probably more], and to take pride in once you have it working? IMO, yes. But it's all dependant on your point of view.

I've not actually used Mandriva (I had Mandrake awhile ago - it was my first distro, actually), and I kind of think that packaged managed distros are the worst when you're trying to do anything manually (which you are). I'm actually surprised that Mandriva didn't come with Firefox preinstalled (the website says that Firefox is Mandriva's default browser now), and that its software-management tool `urpmi` isn't able to download and install Firefox for you if for some reason it isn't preinstalled.

Installing things manually in a distro like Mandriva can be, yes, a royal pain in the nuts. That's because you're not supposed to do it. *shrug* You win some, you lose some...you get urpmi, you lose the ability to install things yourself.

(Note: anyone reading this can rightfully say that I use Slack, and yeah, talk about a potential nightmare for installing things. We could argue that all day and not be done, but let me just say that I am well aware of the downfalls of that distro's method as well.)

Try a few more distros and you may find one that suites you or if you find Linux too challengning then stick with Windows or try MacOS.

By the way the symlink thing does not work right. You need to do

Agreed reddazz - the symlink is a hack, and was suggested before I realized that he was still inexperienced at tinkering with his system. With Mandrake, urpmi is the way to go.