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The Debian GNU/Linux FAQ
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<br>Chapter 3 - Compatibility issues
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<h2><a name="s-arches"></a>3.1 On what hardware architectures/systems does Debian GNU/Linux run?</h2>
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Debian GNU/Linux includes complete source-code for all of the included
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programs, so it should work on all systems which are supported by the Linux
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kernel; see the <code><a
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href="http://en.tldp.org/FAQ/Linux-FAQ/intro.html#DOES-LINUX-RUN-ON-MY-COMPUTER">Linux
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FAQ</a></code> for details.
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The current Debian GNU/Linux release, 4.0, contains a complete, binary
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distribution for the following architectures:
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<em>i386</em>: this covers PCs based on Intel and compatible processors,
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including Intel's 386, 486, Pentium, Pentium Pro, Pentium II (both Klamath and
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Celeron), and Pentium III, and most compatible processors by AMD, Cyrix and
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<em>m68k</em>: this covers Amigas and ATARIs having a Motorola 680x0 processor
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for x>=2; with MMU.
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<em>alpha</em>: Compaq/Digital's Alpha systems.
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<em>sparc</em>: this covers Sun's SPARC and most UltraSPARC systems.
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<em>powerpc</em>: this covers some IBM/Motorola PowerPC machines, including
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CHRP, PowerMac and PReP machines.
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<em>arm</em>: ARM and StrongARM machines.
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<em>mips</em>: SGI's big-endian MIPS systems, Indy and Indigo2;
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<em>mipsel</em>: little-endian MIPS machines, Digital DECstations.
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<em>hppa</em>: Hewlett-Packard's PA-RISC machines (712, C3000, L2000, A500).
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<em>ia64</em>: Intel IA-64 ("Itanium") computers.
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<em>s390</em>: IBM S/390 mainframe systems.
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The development of binary distributions of Debian for Sparc64 (UltraSPARC
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native) architectures is currently underway.
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For further information on booting, partitioning your drive, enabling PCMCIA
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(PC Card) devices and similar issues please follow the instructions given in
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the Installation Manual, which is available from our WWW site at <code><a
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href="http://www.debian.org/releases/stable/installmanual">http://www.debian.org/releases/stable/installmanual</a></code>.
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<h2><a name="s-otherdistribs"></a>3.2 How compatible is Debian with other distributions of Linux?</h2>
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Debian developers communicate with other Linux distribution creators in an
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effort to maintain binary compatibility across Linux distributions. Most
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commercial Linux products run as well under Debian as they do on the system
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upon which they were built.
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Debian GNU/Linux adheres to the <code><a
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href="http://www.pathname.com/fhs/">Linux Filesystem Hierarchy
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Standard</a></code>. However, there is room for interpretation in some of the
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rules within this standard, so there may be slight differences between a Debian
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system and other Linux systems.
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Debian GNU/Linux supports software developed for the <code><a
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href="http://www.linuxbase.org/">Linux Standard Base</a></code>. The LSB is a
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specification for allowing the same binary package to be used on multiple
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distributions. Packages for the Debian Etch release must not conflict with
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requirements of the LSB, v1.3. As of this writing, Debian GNU/Linux is not
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formally LSB-certified. However, some Debian derived distributions are.
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Discussion and coordination of efforts towards ensuring Debian meets the
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requirements of the Linux Standard Base is taking place on the <code><a
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href="http://lists.debian.org/debian-lsb/">debian-lsb mailing list</a></code>.
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<h2><a name="s-otherunices"></a>3.3 How source code compatible is Debian with other Unix systems?</h2>
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For most applications Linux source code is compatible with other Unix systems.
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It supports almost everything that is available in System V Unix systems and
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the free and commercial BSD-derived systems. However in the Unix business such
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claim has nearly no value because there is no way to prove it. In the software
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development area complete compatibility is required instead of compatibility in
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"about most" cases. So years ago the need for standards arose, and
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nowadays POSIX.1 (IEEE Standard 1003.1-1990) is one of the major standards for
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source code compatibility in Unix-like operating systems.
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Linux is intended to adhere to POSIX.1, but the POSIX standards cost real money
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and the POSIX.1 (and FIPS 151-2) certification is quite expensive; this made it
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more difficult for the Linux developers to work on complete POSIX conformance.
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The certification costs make it unlikely that Debian will get an official
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conformance certification even if it completely passed the validation suite.
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(The validation suite is now freely available, so it is expected that more
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people will work on POSIX.1 issues.)
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Unifix GmbH (Braunschweig, Germany) developed a Linux system that has been
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certified to conform to FIPS 151-2 (a superset of POSIX.1). This technology
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was available in Unifix' own distribution called Unifix Linux 2.0 and in
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Lasermoon's Linux-FT.
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<h2><a name="s-otherpackages"></a>3.4 Can I use Debian packages (".deb" files) on my Red Hat/Slackware/... Linux system? Can I use Red Hat packages (".rpm" files) on my Debian GNU/Linux system?</h2>
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Different Linux distributions use different package formats and different
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package management programs.
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<dt><strong>You probably can:</strong></dt>
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A program to unpack a Debian package onto a Linux host that is been built from
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a `foreign' distribution is available, and will generally work, in the sense
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that files will be unpacked. The converse is probably also true, that is, a
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program to unpack a Red Hat or Slackware package on a host that is based on
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Debian GNU/Linux will probably succeed in unpacking the package and placing
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most files in their intended directories. This is largely a consequence of the
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existence (and broad adherence to) the Linux Filesystem Hierarchy Standard.
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The <code><a href="http://packages.debian.org/alien">Alien</a></code> package
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is used to convert between different package formats.
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<dt><strong>You probably do not want to:</strong></dt>
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Most package managers write administrative files when they are used to unpack
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an archive. These administrative files are generally not standardized.
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Therefore, the effect of unpacking a Debian package on a `foreign' host will
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have unpredictable (certainly not useful) effects on the package manager on
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that system. Likewise, utilities from other distributions might succeed in
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unpacking their archives on Debian systems, but will probably cause the Debian
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package management system to fail when the time comes to upgrade or remove some
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packages, or even simply to report exactly what packages are present on a
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<dt><strong>A better way:</strong></dt>
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The Linux File System Standard (and therefore Debian GNU/Linux) requires that
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subdirectories under <samp>/usr/local/</samp> be entirely under the user's
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discretion. Therefore, users can unpack `foreign' packages into this
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directory, and then manage their configuration, upgrade and removal
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<h2><a name="s-libc5"></a>3.5 Is Debian able to run my old libc5 programs?</h2>
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Yes. Just install the required <code>libc5</code> libraries, from the
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<samp>oldlibs</samp> section (containing old packages included for
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compatibility with older applications).
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<h2><a name="s-libc5-compile"></a>3.6 Can Debian be used to compile libc5 programs?</h2>
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Yes. Install <code>libc5-altdev</code> and <code>altgcc</code> packages (from
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the <samp>oldlibs</samp> section). You can find the appropriate libc5-compiled
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<code>gcc</code> and <code>g++</code> in directory
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<samp>/usr/i486-linuxlibc1/bin</samp>. Put them in your $PATH variable to get
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<code>make</code> and other programs to execute these first.
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Be aware that libc5 environment isn't fully supported by our other packages
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<h2><a name="s-non-debian-programs"></a>3.7 How should I install a non-Debian program?</h2>
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Files under the directory <samp>/usr/local/</samp> are not under the control of
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the Debian package management system. Therefore, it is good practice to place
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the source code for your program in /usr/local/src/. For example, you might
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extract the files for a package named "foo.tar" into the directory
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<samp>/usr/local/src/foo</samp>. After you compile them, place the binaries in
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<samp>/usr/local/bin/</samp>, the libraries in <samp>/usr/local/lib/</samp>,
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and the configuration files in <samp>/usr/local/etc/</samp>.
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If your programs and/or files really must be placed in some other directory,
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you could still store them in <samp>/usr/local/</samp>, and build the
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appropriate symbolic links from the required location to its location in
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<samp>/usr/local/</samp>, e.g., you could make the link
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ln -s /usr/local/bin/foo /usr/bin/foo
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In any case, if you obtain a package whose copyright allows redistribution, you
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should consider making a Debian package of it, and uploading it for the Debian
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system. Guidelines for becoming a package developer are included in the Debian
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Policy manual (see <a href="ch-support.en.html#s-debiandocs">What other
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documentation exists on and for a Debian system?, Section 11.1</a>).
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<h2><a name="s-termcap"></a>3.8 Why can't I compile programs that require libtermcap?</h2>
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Debian uses the <samp>terminfo</samp> database and the <samp>ncurses</samp>
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library of terminal interface routes, rather than the <samp>termcap</samp>
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database and the <samp>termcap</samp> library. Users who are compiling
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programs that require some knowledge of the terminal interface should replace
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references to <samp>libtermcap</samp> with references to
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<samp>libncurses</samp>.
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To support binaries that have already been linked with the <samp>termcap</samp>
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library, and for which you do not have the source, Debian provides a package
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called <code>termcap-compat</code>. This provides both
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<samp>libtermcap.so.2</samp> and <samp>/etc/termcap</samp>. Install this
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package if the program fails to run with the error message "can't load
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library 'libtermcap.so.2'", or complains about a missing
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<samp>/etc/termcap</samp> file.
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<h2><a name="s-accelx"></a>3.9 Why can't I install AccelX?</h2>
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AccelX uses the <samp>termcap</samp> library for installation. See <a
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href="#s-termcap">Why can't I compile programs that require libtermcap?,
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Section 3.8</a> above.
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<h2><a name="s-motifnls"></a>3.10 Why do my old XFree 2.1 Motif applications crash?</h2>
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You need to install the <code>motifnls</code> package, which provides the
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XFree-2.1 configuration files needed to allow Motif applications compiled under
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XFree-2.1 to run under XFree-3.1.
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Without these files, some Motif applications compiled on other machines (such
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as Netscape) may crash when attempting to copy or paste from or to a text
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field, and may also exhibit other problems.
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[ <a href="index.en.html#contents">Contents</a> ]
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[ <a href="ch-basic_defs.en.html">1</a> ]
352
[ <a href="ch-getting.en.html">2</a> ]
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[ <a href="ch-software.en.html">4</a> ]
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[ <a href="ch-ftparchives.en.html">5</a> ]
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[ <a href="ch-pkg_basics.en.html">6</a> ]
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[ <a href="ch-pkgtools.en.html">7</a> ]
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[ <a href="ch-uptodate.en.html">8</a> ]
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[ <a href="ch-kernel.en.html">9</a> ]
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[ <a href="ch-customizing.en.html">10</a> ]
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[ <a href="ch-support.en.html">11</a> ]
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[ <a href="ch-contributing.en.html">12</a> ]
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The Debian GNU/Linux FAQ
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version 3.1.5, 17 January 2007<br>
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Authors are listed at <a href="ch-faqinfo.en.html#s-authors">Debian FAQ Authors</a><br>
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