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LibResolver - System Library Version Swapper

Overview

LibResolver is a sophisticated system library management tool that enables compatibility testing across different versions of critical system libraries.

Key Features

1. Multi-Version Library Management

  • Downloads and compiles system libraries from source (glibc, OpenSSL, zlib, libpng)
  • Maintains isolated versions in /opt/omnilibs
  • Computes ABI hashes for compatibility tracking

2. Runtime Environment Isolation

Uses LD_LIBRARY_PATH and LD_PRELOAD to create isolated runtime environments: 

with swapper.runtime_environment("glibc", "2.35"):
    # Your code runs with glibc 2.35 instead of system default
    import some_package

3. Automated Compatibility Testing

Tests Python packages against different system library combinations: - Installs package in isolated temp environment - Tests import and basic functionality - Records results in compatibility matrix

4. Compatibility Database

Maintains compatibility.json with: - Known working combinations - Known broken combinations
- Test history and results

5. Runtime Healing (Experimental)

Automatically detects library errors and retries with known-good library versions.

Use Cases

  • Testing packages across different Linux distributions
  • Ensuring compatibility with older/newer glibc versions
  • Debugging library-related import failures
  • Building portable Python applications

Status

  • Currently: Dormant (not integrated into main CLI)
  • Location: omnipkg/libresolver.py
  • Lines: 700+ lines of production-ready code
  • Dependencies: Requires build tools (gcc, make, etc.)

Future Integration Plans

  1. Add omnipkg test-compat CLI command
  2. Integrate with package installation workflow
  3. Auto-detect library issues and suggest fixes
  4. Build compatibility reports for packages

Example Usage

from omnipkg.libresolver import SysLibSwapper

swapper = SysLibSwapper()

# Ensure glibc 2.35 is available
swapper.ensure_library_version("glibc", "2.35")

# Test package compatibility
result = swapper.test_compatibility(
    "numpy", "1.24.0",
    {"glibc": "2.35", "openssl": "3.0.8"}
)

Security Note

Requires root/sudo for /opt/omnilibs access. Consider user-space alternatives for production.