Build WBT Linux binary using Google Colab

[giswqs]

I created a Colab notebook that can build the WBT Linux binary with GLIBC 2.27. You no longer need a Linux virtual machine to build WBT from source. WBT 1.5.0 and newer versions use GLIBC 2.29, which is not available on Ubuntu 18.04 LTS. Therefore, Linux users with Ubuntu 18.04 (e.g., Colab) won't be able to use WBT. Building WBT using this notebook can resolve the GLIBC errors.

https://colab.research.google.com/drive/16zd5-8pKx4nw8USRAJsK8wxe2B-1OZsA?usp=sharing

Here are some relevant WBT issues related to GLIBC errors:

• Issue between binary and libc #71
• glibc requirements opengeos/whitebox-python#21
• /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libm.so.6: version `GLIBC_2.29' not found (required by ./whitebox_tools) #112
• glibc requirements  opengeos/whitebox-python#26

[jblindsay]

I am a little confused by this situation and perhaps you can clarify. First, are there that many people who are using such an outdated version of Ubuntu? I mean the current LTS version of the OS is 20.04, a full two years later in release date. Secondly, if I have now replaced the linux binary for WBT with one compiled using 18.04, but will that present compatibility problems for people using a more up-to-date version of linux?

[giswqs]

The issue is that there are a lot of users who use Google Colab and Binder for research and teaching. Anyone with a Google account can just open Colab using a browser and start coding without installing anything on their computer. Unfortunately, Colab is still using Ubuntu 18.04 as of today. It might take months before Google updates Colab to use Ubuntu 20.04. The binary compiled using 18.04 can be used with 20.04 without any problem. I personally use Manjaro Linux, which uses a rolling release model and therefore always has the latest Linux kernel and software packages (e.g., GLIBC 2.33), much newer than Ubuntu 18.04 with GLIBC 2.27 and Ubuntu 20.04 with GLIBC 2.29. I can use WBT without any problem on my computer, but Colab users can't use WBT unless we update the binary or Google updates Colab to Ubuntu 20.04.

[mgironamata]

Thank you very much for creating this notebook, @giswqs.

However, I have tried to execute the notebook and I get the following error:

Would there be a solution to this error?