libidn.so.11

[yeleek]

Hi,

When attempting to install software on Opensuse 11.2 I'm occasionally getting a message advising that nothing provides libidn.so.11, yet /usr/lib/libidn.so.11 does exist...

Any ideas please?

Thanks

[D-cat]

If you verify that a dependency exists despite the complaint, you can usually choose to ignore the dependency and install anyway. Some stubborn packages may require you install from the command line. A package manager only keeps track of files installed through itself, so things added via a different package manager or source will not be known about (package managers do not go looking to see if a file actually exists or not).

Keep in mind when you start ignoring dependencies that you may have to track files down and manually make symlinks to locations where a particular program can find it. You're unlocking the gate to dependency hell, so make sure you do verify every "missing" dependency prior selecting ignore or something may break and your task becomes exponentially more difficult.

[yeleek]

Hi,

Thanks for that. Given its already showing though in /usr/lib is something misconfigured? Is there a way to check its really there?

This is what shows

ben@3000N200:/usr/lib> ls libidn.so.* -l
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root     17 2009-12-11 19:11 libidn.so.11 -> libidn.so.11.5.39
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 202376 2009-10-24 01:26 libidn.so.11.5.39

Thanks

[linuxforever]

Maybe libidn isn't properly installed.
I assume that libidn.so.11 is a part of that package.

A way to properly install packages is to look at the opensuse web-site.
In the first screen select software on the left.
And in the second screen select software search also left.

In the next screen type libidn and a lot of files can be seen.
Select the one you need and click "install" and mostly they are installed without dependencies.
You can also download, but installing directly is the better way.

It seems that in opensuse11.x dependency conflicts more often occur than in opensuse10.x.
I do not know why this is so.

[D-cat]

Looks like it should work to me.

If you're using a color terminal, a good symlink (points to a file that actually exists) appears in cyan/light blue. A bad symlink appears in red.

My guess is that a) your libidn.so was not installed via Yast, but through some other means...
or b) the file you're trying to install is requesting a different version than 11.5.39 which isn't available in the current repository list.

I'm going to assume the latter, since libidn is one of the base packages available off the install disc. This basically means that you can ignore the dependency, but the program you're trying to install my fail to start or be unstable when running. It might also run without a hitch. You just have to try and see.