[Techtalk] questions re installing gcc-3.4.2

[Darlene Wallach]

Val Henson wrote:
> On Mon, 20 Sep 2004 22:54:33 -0700, Darlene Wallach
> <wallachd at earthlink.net> wrote:
> 
>>I have RedHat7.3
>>
>>I want to install gcc-3.4.2.
>>I have downloaded gcc-3.4.2, gcc-g++,  and gcc-java.
>>What is gcc-core? How do I know if I need it or not?
> 
> Hi Darlene,
> 
> The (somewhat silly) answer is that if you can rpm install the other
> packages without installing gcc-core, then you don't need it. :) rpm
> will usually tell you when you need another package.
> 
> The more interesting answer is that, after typing "gcc-core" into
> Google, it seems like gcc-core is the source package for gcc.  Unless
> you plan on compiling gcc from scratch (a daunting task, last I
> heard), I don't suggest installing it.
> 

I'm acutally downloading tar files so I can get used to
configuring, building, and installing software.

So since I'm compiling gcc from scratch, I should
download gcc-core too?

> Wow, using Redhat 7.3?  I bet there's an interesting story behind that
> (although it sounds like the kind of thing I'd do just for the heck of
> it, too).
> 

I just haven't upgraded nor have I made to an installfest to
take advantage of a Fedora that someone else might have
downloaded - I have a modem so downloading a
distribution is not something I want to tackle.


> Hope that you're having fun with gcc!

What I'm really up to is I want to look at and learn
the Linux kernel and device drivers. I've downloaded
the 2.6.8.1 kernel. The kernel hackers website suggests
using BitKeeper. So I have downloaded glibc-2.3.3,
gcc-3.4.2 and all the required versions of support stuff.
Looks like quite an undertaking - I need to reread the
directions/instructions again. I'm not sure how to figure
out if I have an earlier version of glibc already installed
or only some version of libc. So I have some more
research to do on my computer.

That reminds me, an earlier version of BitKeeper
wants a hostname for my computer. I have never had
a hostname - only the default localhost, which is not
a valid hostname.

RedHat has the hostname in /etc/sysconfig/network.
It also uses /etc/hosts.

Do I just put
127.0.0.1 localhost.localdomain myHost.localdomain localhost myHost
  in /etc/hosts?
or do I need a separate line
127.0.0.1 localhost.localdomain localhost
127.0.0.2 myHost.localdomain localhost

Do I need to use myHost.myDomain instead of myHost.localdomain

I don't know where to look to get this info.

The man pages haven't helped nor has google.

> -VAL
> 
> P.S. I'm trying out gmail for the first time - apologies if line
> lengths are off or anything like that.

Everything seems fine to me. btw, you're not
worried about your privacy with gmail?

Thank you for any advice.

Darlene