It's not that the distro's are not compatible.  Distributions by the
different vendors, i.e. redhat, mandrake, suse, puppy, etc. pretty
much use the same linux kernels, libraries, and software.  They are
generally just different conglomerations of software based upon what
the distro is aimed at.  Where they do differ is the installation
package.  Some are more thorough and require less input from the user.
 The other major difference is the support software for installing
additional packages.

What we're talking about are programs that during the compile process
look for a specific library file of say 'needthislibrary.so.1'.  Newer
distro's may only include 'needthislibrary.so.2' that includes some
additional features.  If it is backwards compatible you just need to
either change the compile/make script or make a logical link from the
'so.1' to the 'so.2' file.  If it isn't compatible then you need to
start searching.  Another thing that occurs is that mandrake may
include the library in its distro while suse may not have deemed it
worthwhile, so you start searching for the library if you are running
suse.

It really isn't much different than .dll's used in MS.  

Jim
WA0LYK

--- In [email protected], "John Bradley" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> I rest my case: walt talks about all these different varieties of
linux, RedHat,Mandrake,SuSe, puppy linux and Debian, 
> all in one sentence. I take it these OS are not compatible with each
other. How the heck can u figure out what runws best with which?
> 
> John
> VE5MU
> 


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