Building older GNU coreutils versions on newer systems
======================================================

Overview
--------

Some older GNU coreutils fail to build on newer GNU/Linux systems.

This happens with Coreutils version 8.29 and earlier, on systems
using GlibC version 2.28 or newer, Such as Debian 10, CentOS 8, Fedora 29.

A typical error is:

    $ wget https://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/coreutils/coreutils-7.6.tar.xz
    $ tar -xf coreutils-7.6.tar.xz
    $ cd coreutils-7.6
    $ ./configure
    $ make
    [...]
    freadahead.c: In function 'freadahead':
    freadahead.c:83:3: error: #error "Please port gnulib freadahead.c to
                              your platform! Look at the definition of fflush,
                              fread, ungetc on your system, then report this
                              to bug-gnulib."
    [...]
    make[4]: *** [Makefile:1700: freadahead.o] Error 1

Other similar errors mention 'freadptr', 'freadseek','fseterr'.
Older version (pre 7.2) mention 'tee','eaccess','futimens'.


Details
-------

GLibC version 2.28 removed a non-standard header file (libio.h) and some
internal symbols which were used by gnulib (a core component of GNU coreutils).

These were announced as 'deprecated' in version 2.27 [1], and removed in
version 2.28. Gnulib code was adjusted shortly after [2],
but the code changes obviously can't be retroactively made to
previously-released coreutils versions.

[1] https://sourceware.org/ml/libc-announce/2018/msg00000.html
[2] https://lists.gnu.org/r/bug-gnulib/2018-03/msg00000.html

Older coreutils versions defined functions that were later picked-up
by glibc ('tee','eaccess','futimens') resulting in conflicts.

See the patches for the exact code changes.


Supplied patches
----------------

The patch files in this directory change the source code of older
coreutils versions, enabling successful build on newer systems.

Some versions require different patches.

Coreutils Versions             Patch file
5.0                            coreutils-5.0-on-glibc-2.28.diff
5.97 to 6.9                    coreutils-5.97-on-glibc-2.28.diff
6.10                           coreutils-6.10-on-glibc-2.28.diff
6.11                           coreutils-6.11-on-glibc-2.28.diff
6.12                           coreutils-6.12-on-glibc-2.28.diff
7.2  to 8.3                    coreutils-7.2-on-glibc-2.28.diff
8.4  to 8.12                   coreutils-8.4-on-glibc-2.28.diff
8.13 to 8.16                   coreutils-8.13-on-glibc-2.28.diff
8.17                           coreutils-8.17-on-glibc-2.28.diff
8.18 to 8.23                   coreutils-8.18-on-glibc-2.28.diff
8.24 to 8.29                   coreutils-8.24-on-glibc-2.28.diff
8.30 and newer                 [builds without patching]


Manual build
------------

1. Download the desired version from https://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/coreutils .
2. Patch using the corresponding patch file (see table above).
3. Configure the build, optionally adding the version number
   to the executables, to ensure they will not conflict with existing
   (newer) executables
4. Build with 'make'
5. Optionally install with 'sudo make install'

Example:

    wget https://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/coreutils/coreutils-5.97.tar.gz
    tar -xf coreutils-5.97.tar.gz
    cd coreutils-5.97
    patch -p1 < ../coreutils-5.97-on-glibc-2.28.diff
    ./configure --program-suffix=-5.97
    make
    sudo make install

This will install the programs (e.g. 'sort', 'head) in
/usr/local/bin, with "-5.97" added to each program name (e.g. 'sort-5.97',
'head-5.97').

NOTE:
With very old versions (5.X and 6.X), running "./configure" will
hang for a long time at the following step:
   "checking for mktime..."
But will eventually continue successfully.


Automated build
---------------

The script 'build-older-versions.sh' automatically performs the manual steps
listed above. The script installs each package in a separate directory:
Programs in `$HOME/old-coreutils/coreutils-{VERSION}/bin`,
manual pages in `$HOME/old-coreutils/coreutils-{VERSION}/share/man`,
PDF manual in `$HOME/old-coreutils/coreutils-{VERSION}/share/doc`,
INFO pages in `$HOME/old-coreutils/coreutils-{VERSION}/share/info`.
It will also create symlinks to all version in a common directory
`$HOME/old-coreutils/bin`.

Example, running the following commands:

    ./build-older-versions.sh 5.0
    ./build-older-versions.sh 5.97
    ./build-older-versions.sh 6.12
    ./build-older-versions.sh 7.6

Will download, patch, build and install the programs for GNU coreutils
versions 5.0,5.97,6.12,7.6 in `$HOME/old-coreutils/bin` :

    $ ls $HOME/old-coreutils/bin
    [-5.97          id-5.0          sha224sum-7.6
    [-6.12          id-5.97         sha256sum-6.12
    [-7.6           id-6.12         sha256sum-7.6
    base64-6.12     id-7.6          sha384sum-6.12
    base64-7.6      install-5.0     sha384sum-7.6
    basename-5.0    install-5.97    sha512sum-6.12
    basename-5.97   install-6.12    sha512sum-7.6
    basename-6.12   install-7.6     shred-5.0
    basename-7.6    join-5.0        shred-5.97
    cat-5.0         join-5.97       shred-6.12
    cat-5.97        join-6.12       shred-7.6
    cat-6.12        join-7.6        shuf-6.12
    cat-7.6         kill-5.0        shuf-7.6
    chcon-6.12      kill-5.97       sleep-5.0
    chcon-7.6       kill-6.12       sleep-5.97
    chgrp-5.0       kill-7.6        sleep-6.12
    chgrp-5.97      link-5.0        sleep-7.6
    chgrp-6.12      link-5.97       sort-5.0
    chgrp-7.6       link-6.12       sort-5.97
    chmod-5.0       link-7.6        sort-6.12
    chmod-5.97      ln-5.0          sort-7.6
    chmod-6.12      ln-5.97         split-5.0
    chmod-7.6       ln-6.12         split-5.97
    chown-5.0       ln-7.6          split-6.12
    [... many more files ...]

By adding the directory to your $PATH, older versions can be easily used:

    export PATH=$PATH:$HOME/old-coreutils/bin
    export MANPATH=$MANPATH:$HOME/old-coreutils/man





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