Problems with Compiling C program on Ubuntu

Question

I am using Ubuntu 10.10 as VM and am new to it. Until recently i could easily compile C programs from the terminal. However, as i try to compile them now it gives a message as:

/usr/bin/ld: cannot find -lc 
collect2: ld returned 1 exit status

I have searched for it over the net but could not figure out what is going wrong. I know the answer to it must be simple but any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

Are you compiling directly or via a build tool like `make`? If it's the former, then show us how. — Martin Green, Jun 29 '12 at 07:31
Am compiling it directly. Its this way : gcc Test.c -o Test for any file, say Test.c — akaHuman, Jun 29 '12 at 07:37

score 3 · Accepted Answer · edited Jun 29 '12 at 17:03

3

Installing the necessary tools should solve your problem. Try:

sudo apt-get install build-essential

edited Jun 29 '12 at 17:03

octopusgrabbus

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answered Jun 29 '12 at 08:04

Scroog1

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score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Jun 29 '12 at 17:07

You probably -- most of us do -- installed Ubuntu desktop, but not Ubuntu server. A whole lot of tools don't come over with a default Ubuntu desktop installation.

So start by installing build-essential:

sudo apt-get install -y build-essential

Then try the compile again. build-essential contains a bunch of components that you need to perform a basic compile.

For my work, beyond build-essential, I have to install other libraries like curses. However, I first have to have build-essential installed before I can do anything else.

Problems with Compiling C program on Ubuntu

2 Answers2