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Musl or Glibc?

Everest supports 2 different C libraries, musl and glibc. This guide should help you decide which to choose.

1 - musl

1.1 Pros

Musl is extremely lightweight and easy to build, compared to Glibc.

As an added bonus, musl is also more secure than Glibc.

Musl recieves the most support from the Everest development team.

1.2 Cons

Musl may not support all programs, especially proprietary programs, or programs using Glibc-specific APIs.

1.3 Who should use musl

Users running a server, doing simple web browsing, or using programs which do not depend on Glibc should use musl.

1.4 Who shouldn't use musl

Users requiring proprietary software that cannot be patched and recompiled against musl, users who require nvidia graphics drivers, or those who use Steam.

While compatibility layers, such as gcompat, can remedy these issues, there is no 100% perfect solution.

1.5 Solutions

Those wishing to run musl, even with incompatible software and hardware, have a couple of solutions:

1.5.1 gcompat

Gcompat is a shared object file that provides programs with Glibc APIs on a musl system. This can be used for running Glibc programs, but CANNOT be used for compiling them.

Install gcompat by running the following:

(root)# gpkg -f gcompat

1.5.2 Glibc chroot

A minimal chroot containing Glibc can be set up very quickly.

First, ensure you have the everest-devtools and everest-buildtools packages installed:

(root)# gpkg -f everest-devtools everest-buildtools

Next, create a directory for the chroot:

(user)$ mkdir your-chroot

Create a filesystem skeleton in the new directory:

(user)$ mkskel -d your-chroot

Install the necessary packages to the chroot:

WARNING:

(user)$ mkchroot-glibc -d your-chroot

Finally, use everest-chroot to access the chroot:

(root)# everest-chroot your-chroot

Or, you can manually mount the required filesystems and run:

(root)# chroot --userspec=0:0 your-chroot /bin/sh

2 - Glibc

2.1 Pros

Glibc is the de-facto standard C library in Linux, and as a result supports most programs, including proprietary ones.

2.2 Cons

Glibc is very bloated and heavy on resources for what it does.

2.3 Who should use Glibc

Users who wish to use proprietary programs, play Steam games, or have hardware that is incompatible with musl should use Glibc.

2.4 Who shouldn't use Glibc

Users running an embedded, or otherwise resource-constrained system should not use Glibc.

3 - Changing the C library

3.1 Prerequisites

Changing the C library on an existing Everest system is known as migrating.

WARNING:

3.2 Preparations

First, change the system profile, corresponding to the C library you are switching to:

(root)# glacier-mkprofile -u SYSTEM_PROFILE

Next, update the local package database:

(root)# glacier-update-pkgdb

Finally, change branches on / and pull in the new files:

(user)$ cd /

(root)# git checkout SYSTEM_PROFILE

(root)# git pull

WARNING