Johnny Billquist <bqt@softjar.se> writes:

> Using package-2006Q4 with a current release obviously don't work
> then. Those packages are compiled against libraries that you don't
> have. So you should the next item in the order (pkgsrc-2006Q4 or
> current pkgsrc).

I've had this problem, and it would be nice to have a solution.

pkgsrc-2006Q4 should work just fine with -current.  But I mean
*building* pkgsrc-2006Q4 on -current, or binary packages built on the
same -current.  Surely the binaries that Przemys=B3aw installed are for
some particular earlier release.

NetBSD's back-compatibility to run old binaries is excellent, to the
point where I've upgraded a machine from 1.6 to 2 to 3 by
build/install from source and the old binary packages worked just
fine.  But this is different from installing -current, because that
system had the old libc versions.

There are at least two approaches:

  a workaround is to install the release for which the bulk build was
  done, and then upgrade to -current.  You'll have all the old libs.

  make binary compat packages, perhaps by lib and version, with some
  way to know which ones are needed.  These would install the old
  shlib major versions.

I just scp the missing libs from an earlier system when I need to run
e.g. 3.0 packages on a new current system.