<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class="">Hi Gus,<br class=""><br class="">Thanks for sharing your thoughts and experience with NCL build and installation issues on Linux! I just wanted to help clarify some of the concerns you raised.<br class=""><br class="">First, although we have pivoted our development focus to Python and are working to port NCL’s functionality into Python, we are still committed to providing access to NCL in its current form. Compiling NCL binary releases for a wide variety of Linux distributions and versions has always been a challenging game of whack-a-mole, and as more and more variants are added this ultimately becomes unmaintainable for us in the long term. Using “conda” to distribute NCL has simplified this process for us dramatically in that we only need to target a single Linux environment that can be deployed on any modern 64-bit Linux system (independent of which Linux distribution a user is on). Also note that while the “conda” package manager does use Python under the hood, the NCL package available via conda is still the same original NCL language implementation, existing NCL scripts do not need to be rewritten; the only change is the method of distributing and installing the NCL binary.<br class=""><br class="">Regarding the dependence on Anaconda (the company), we do not rely on any of their “pro” features nor do we depend on them explicitly supporting our software. We participate in a community-driven conda channel called “conda-forge”: <a href="https://conda-forge.org/" class="">https://conda-forge.org/</a> <br class=""><br class="">A primary goal of the conda-forge project is to provide a wide variety of packages that all use a compatible set of dependency libraries, much like the maintainers of a “yum” or “apt” repository would do. We generally advise people to use “conda-forge” channel instead of the default channel provided by Anaconda, particularly because “missing library” type errors tend to pop up when packages from multiple channels are used in the same conda environment. (For reference, it is possible to prioritize “conda-forge” with a persistent setting by running “conda config --add channels conda-forge”.)<br class=""><br class="">Also, NCL has been put into “maintenance mode”, meaning we will ensure that NCL builds on currently supported platforms, continue to fix critical bugs, and distribute bug fix releases on a best effort basis for the foreseeable future. We do not currently have plans to add new features to NCL beyond the 6.6.2 release, but we welcome contributions from the user community. Barring unforeseen changes to funding levels, or shifts in the technological landscape, we plan on providing bug fix releases for currently supported platforms, in both source code and executable form, through the year 2021 and hopefully beyond. Please see our Pivot to Python FAQ for more info: <a href="http://www.ncl.ucar.edu/Document/Pivot_to_Python/faq.shtml" class="">http://www.ncl.ucar.edu/Document/Pivot_to_Python/faq.shtml</a> <br class=""><br class="">I hope this addresses your concerns. Thanks again for your feedback, it’s important to us to stay engaged with the community.<br class=""><br class="">Kevin<br class=""><div><br class=""><blockquote type="cite" class=""><div class="">On Apr 21, 2020, at 11:17 PM, Gus Correa via ncl-talk <<a href="mailto:ncl-talk@ucar.edu" class="">ncl-talk@ucar.edu</a>> wrote:</div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><div class=""><div dir="ltr" class=""><div class="">Hi Francesco</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">I haven't tried to build NCL from source for a long time.</div><div class="">So, I am afraid I cannot help much, but please see two suggestions at the end of this message.<br class=""></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">**</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Unfortunately NCAR phased out the standard NCL code in favor of the Python-based code.</div><div class="">They've been recommending the Anaconda Python installation of NCL as the preferred way to install.</div><div class="">The traditional NCL code development has been frozen, at least that is what they told this mailing list a year or so ago.<br class=""></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><div class="">Actually it is specific the Anaconda Python, which makes it even more restrictive and less open <br class=""></div><div class="">then Python alone (or PIP), since Anaconda is a company, a private business, which is already</div><div class="">advertising and selling "pro" versions of their "conda" software, after luring users with the "community" version for a while.<br class=""></div><div class="">I think that was a terrible decision. <br class=""></div><div class="">It alienated a huge user base (in the USA and worldwide).<br class=""></div><div class="">It trashed an enormous number of research- and production-level NCL scripts that will eventually have to be re-written. <br class=""></div><div class="">It requires users to have to learn the NCL replacement language and rewrite all their scripts with no tangible gain,</div><div class="">just to stay exactly where they were before.<br class=""></div><div class="">It made NCL depend on corporate decisions (of <a href="http://Anaconda.com" class="">Anaconda.com</a>) that neither the community nor NCAR has any control of,<br class=""></div><div class="">and that do not necessarily serve the atmospheric/climate/oceans community best interests.<br class=""></div></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">We were told that the original NCL code development was frozen/killed: <br class=""></div><div class="">don't expect new versions, there will be no updates in the downloadable binaries, etc.<br class=""></div><div class="">This is sure to make everything in the traditional NCL become obsolete, and eventually go extinct.</div><div class="">I still have NCL installed from packages in the LInux distribution I use (CentOS 7),</div><div class="">and that I install in a number of computers in the university to serve researchers, students, and faculty.<br class=""></div><div class="">However, since the NCL code development is frozen and killed, these packages are bound to <br class=""></div><div class="">become incompatible with new Linux developments, and therefore are sure to disappear from future</div><div class="">LInux updates (e.g. in CentOS 8 and so on), as you are experiencing with your new version of Debian.</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">I and other NCL users voiced in this mailing list <br class=""></div><div class="">our protest against the decision of phasing out the NCL code development, to no avail.</div><div class="">I wish the NCAR leadership had listened, given a second thought to this matter, <br class=""></div><div class="">and reconsidered their terrible decision, which really didn't take into account the best interests of the user community.<br class=""></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">**</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">As for the specifics of your email, I would check the log file of your build, i.e.,</div><div class="">the make-output file, and search for errors.</div><div class="">I would guess that it didn't really succeed, but stumbled on errors before it could build ncl itself.</div><div class="">Maybe there is a clue there on where and why the build is failing.</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">With respect to the soft link that you made from libgfortran.so.3 to libgfortran.so.5,</div><div class="">I would not expect it to work. That is why I suggested the use of a "compat" package</div><div class="">that may reconcile the differences in libgfortran versions 3 and 5.</div><div class="">I am not familiar with Debian, and I don't know if such a package is available in Debian.</div><div class="">I use CentOS (a derivative of Red Hat Enterprise), and in general they keep some "compat"</div><div class="">packages available, to allow a smooth transition from older to newer versions of gcc, gfortran,</div><div class="">etc.<br class=""></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Sincerely,<br class=""></div><div class="">Gus Correa<br class=""></div></div><br class=""><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Tue, Apr 21, 2020 at 11:52 PM Francesco Trotta <<a href="mailto:francesco.trotta4@unibo.it" class="">francesco.trotta4@unibo.it</a>> wrote:<br class=""></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">
<div dir="ltr" class="">
<div style="font-family: Calibri, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;" class="">
<span class=""><br class="">
</span>
<div class="">Dear Gus Correa<br class="">
</div>
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class="">I tried to create a link libgfortran.so.3 to libgfortran.so.5 <br class="">
</div>
<div class="">but I got another error<br class="">
</div>
<div class="">ncl: /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libgfortran.so.3: version `GFORTRAN_1.4' not found (required by ncl)<br class="">
</div>
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class="">I would like to not use the virtual environment for now<br class="">
</div>
<div class="">SO I tried to compile and install from the source code ncarg-6.6.2<br class="">
</div>
<div class="">following the step-by-step instructor from the website<br class="">
</div>
<div class=""> <br class="">
</div>
<div class="">After I installed all the necessary package on the /usr/local/ and<br class="">
</div>
<div class="">run the command: make Everything >& make-output<br class="">
</div>
<div class="">I end up with the below executables:<br class="">
</div>
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class="">But there is not 'ncl' <br class="">
</div>
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class="">bash: ncl: command not found<br class="">
</div>
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class="">What did I miss? <br class="">
</div>
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class="">Many Thanks<br class="">
</div>
<div class="">Francesco<br class="">
</div>
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class="">surf@surf:/usr/local/ncl_ncarg/ncl_ncarg-6.6.2/bin$ tree -L 2 ./<br class="">
</div>
<div class="">./<br class="">
</div>
<div class="">├── cgm2ncgm<br class="">
</div>
<div class="">├── ConvertMapData<br class="">
</div>
<div class="">├── ctlib<br class="">
</div>
<div class="">├── fcaps<br class="">
</div>
<div class="">├── findg<br class="">
</div>
<div class="">├── fontc<br class="">
</div>
<div class="">├── gcaps<br class="">
</div>
<div class="">├── graphc<br class="">
</div>
<div class="">├── idt<br class="">
</div>
<div class="">├── med<br class="">
</div>
<div class="">├── ncargcc<br class="">
</div>
<div class="">├── ncargex<br class="">
</div>
<div class="">├── ncargf77<br class="">
</div>
<div class="">├── ncargf90<br class="">
</div>
<div class="">├── ncargfile<br class="">
</div>
<div class="">├── ncargpath<br class="">
</div>
<div class="">├── ncargrun<br class="">
</div>
<div class="">├── ncargversion<br class="">
</div>
<div class="">├── ncargworld<br class="">
</div>
<div class="">├── ncarlogo2ps<br class="">
</div>
<div class="">├── ncarvversion<br class="">
</div>
<div class="">├── ncgm2cgm<br class="">
</div>
<div class="">├── ncgmstat<br class="">
</div>
<div class="">├── ncl_convert2nc<br class="">
</div>
<div class="">├── ncl_filedump<br class="">
</div>
<div class="">├── ncl_grib2nc<br class="">
</div>
<div class="">├── ncl_quicklook<br class="">
</div>
<div class="">├── ng4ex<br class="">
</div>
<div class="">├── nhlcc<br class="">
</div>
<div class="">├── nhlf77<br class="">
</div>
<div class="">├── nhlf90<br class="">
</div>
<div class="">├── pre2ncgm<br class="">
</div>
<div class="">├── pre2ncgm.prog<br class="">
</div>
<div class="">├── psblack<br class="">
</div>
<div class="">├── psplit<br class="">
</div>
<div class="">├── pswhite<br class="">
</div>
<div class="">├── pwritxnt<br class="">
</div>
<div class="">├── scrip_check_input<br class="">
</div>
<div class="">├── tgks0a<br class="">
</div>
<div class="">├── tlocal<br class="">
</div>
<div class="">├── WRAPIT<br class="">
</div>
<div class="">├── wrapit77<br class="">
</div>
<div class="">├── WriteLineFile<br class="">
</div>
<div class="">├── WriteNameFile<br class="">
</div>
<span class="">└── WritePlotcharData</span><br class="">
</div>
<div id="gmail-m_5323362372120555077appendonsend" class=""></div>
<hr style="display:inline-block;width:98%" class="">
<div id="gmail-m_5323362372120555077divRplyFwdMsg" dir="ltr" class=""><font style="font-size:11pt" face="Calibri, sans-serif" class=""><b class="">Da:</b> ncl-talk <<a href="mailto:ncl-talk-bounces@ucar.edu" target="_blank" class="">ncl-talk-bounces@ucar.edu</a>> per conto di Gus Correa via ncl-talk <<a href="mailto:ncl-talk@ucar.edu" target="_blank" class="">ncl-talk@ucar.edu</a>><br class="">
<b class="">Inviato:</b> lunedì 20 aprile 2020 03:57<br class="">
<b class="">A:</b> NCL Talk <<a href="mailto:ncl-talk@ucar.edu" target="_blank" class="">ncl-talk@ucar.edu</a>><br class="">
<b class="">Oggetto:</b> Re: [ncl-talk] installing ncl on Debian Linux 10</font>
<div class=""> </div>
</div>
<div class="">
<div dir="ltr" class="">
<div class="">Hi Francesco</div>
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class="">Have you checked if your Debian distribution has a "compat" (compatibility) package for gfortran/libgfortran</div>
<div class="">between libgfortran.5 and libgfortran.3 ?</div>
<div class="">Apt-get may have a way to check if it is available.<br class="">
</div>
<div class="">I don't use Debian, but CentOS-7, which has an older kernel and older libraries.</div>
<div class="">However, I have libgfortran.3 along with a "compat" package that provides compatibility with libgfortran.1, for example.</div>
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class="">An alternative is to install NCL using Anaconda Python.</div>
<div class="">This is currently the recommended method (argh!):</div>
<div class=""><a href="https://www.ncl.ucar.edu/Download/" target="_blank" class="">https://www.ncl.ucar.edu/Download/</a></div>
<div class="">That is self-contained, doesn't depend on the system libraries.</div>
<div class="">In my experience it has other problems, particularly a sensitive dependency on other Anaconda Python packages</div>
<div class="">that change by the hour, and don't give a damn to backward compatibility, which can easily break functionality.<br class="">
</div>
<div class="">So, if you install this way, be careful with any conda packages updates, or simply don't update.</div>
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class="">I hope this helps,</div>
<div class="">Gus Correa<br class="">
</div>
</div>
<br class="">
<div class="">
<div dir="ltr" class="">On Sun, Apr 19, 2020 at 5:25 PM Francesco Trotta via ncl-talk <<a href="mailto:ncl-talk@ucar.edu" target="_blank" class="">ncl-talk@ucar.edu</a>> wrote:<br class="">
</div>
<blockquote style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex" class="">
<div dir="ltr" class="">
<div style="font-family: Calibri, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;" class="">
Dear ncl team</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;" class="">
I upgraded my operating system to Debian GNU/Linux 10 buster</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;" class="">
<br class="">
</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;" class="">
This new Debian has GNU Fortran (Debian 8.3.0-6) 8.3.0 installed</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;" class="">
<br class="">
</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;" class="">
Now, when I run ncl it gives me the error:</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;" class="">
ncl: error while loading shared libraries: libgfortran.so.3: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;" class="">
<br class="">
</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;" class="">
The new Debian has libgfortran.so.5</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;" class="">
<br class="">
</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;" class="">
/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libgfortran.so.5</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;" class="">
<br class="">
</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;" class="">
so I upgraded ncl using to the last precompiled binary </div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;" class="">
<br class="">
</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;" class="">
ncl_ncarg-6.6.2-Debian9.8_64bit_nodap_gnu630.tar.gz<br class="">
</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;" class="">
<br class="">
</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;" class="">
bu I got the same error.</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;" class="">
<br class="">
</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;" class="">
I can I use ncl in Debian 10?</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;" class="">
<br class="">
</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;" class="">
Many Thanks</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;" class="">
Francesco</div>
</div>
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