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!!! My [MP3]s don't work!

One day, long ago, while all was going quitely in Linux land, [someone suddenly stood to claim|http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/08/27/1626241] that all programs which decode [MP3]s had to pay royalties to the developers of the [MP3] format. Even though soon after, [someone else refuted the claim|http://newsforge.com/article.pl?sid=02/08/29/1633205&tid=17], showing that free decoders never had and never would have to pay a licencing fee, the damage had been done.

RedHat, fearing a lawsuit, removed all [MP3] decoders from the [MediaPlayer]s in their distrubtion. To play [MP3] files on [XMMS], you have to install an [MP3] plugin from an external source. An appropriate [RPM] is available from the [XMMS website|http://xmms.org].

Even though we all know we should be using OggVorbis anyway...

!!! Installing XimianDesktop 2 breaks AptForRpm

This problem can manifest itself in many different ways. It is caused by some bogus __db4__ packages with incorrectly set the __obsoletes__ field. See http://bugzilla.ximian.com/show_bug.cgi?id=44442 for more details. You might see something like this:

 __# apt-get upgrade__
 Reading Package Lists... Done
 Building Dependency Tree... Done
 You might want to run `apt-get -f install' to correct these.
 The following packages have unmet dependencies:
   db4: Obsoletes: db1 but 1.85-0.ximian.6.1 is installed
 E: Unmet dependencies. Try using -f.

A simple fix is to replace your bogus __db4__ package with the corresponding fixed one from
[http://www.math.utah.edu/~newren/my-ximian-db4-packages/].
To find out which one you need, check which one you have:

 rpm -qa | grep ^db4

Then download and install the fixed packages:

 rpm -Uvh ''package1'' ''package2''

Now everything should be back in good order.

Another, more complex solution is described at
[http://thomas.apestaart.org/linux/ximian-rh9-apt.php].

!!! Glibc Bug

This fault is particular to RedHat 8.0. There are several open bugs on http://bugzilla.redhat.com, but no thorough fix. The fault is thus:

Whenever the total members of one group (including the group name and group id) exceed a certain number of characters on that group's line in __/etc/group__, the group fails. This number seems to vary depending on type of members, position in the file, etc. When the limit is reached, group functions cease to work. For instance, even when everything worked correctly before, if adding user __joebloggs__ to group __users__ that line reaches the "breaking point", you will get something like this:

 [[root@somebox etc]# groups joebloggs
 id: cannot find name for group ID 100

All groups ''after'' that line in __/etc/group__ will fail also.

Unlikely as it seems, the fix is to upgrade the glibc packages to those in RawHide, ''despite'' the major version change.

GreigMcGill says this fault nearly drove him insane. While he was dubious about the fix at first, all has gone well. He thanks JohnMcPherson, PerryLorier, DanielLawson, and all the others on that stressful day on [IRC].
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