Runtime information about libc version and type

[Brooooooklyn]

Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe.

I need to dectect the libc version and type on Linux systems to determined which native addon I need to load.

The most common ways in Node.js to do such things is using the detect-libc package, which is actully invoke shell scripts and try to read messages in the stdout, not elegant at all.

The other way is using try ... catch on Linux:

try {
  return require('my-native-addon.x64-linux-gnu.node')
} catch {
  return require('my-native-addon.x64-linux-musl.node')
}

not elegant either and more complicated.

Describe the solution you'd like

I want get libc information on process.versions directly, like:

console.log(process.versions.libc)

{
  family: 'glibc',
  version: '2.24'
}

For the other systems don't need to consider about libc problem, just leave the fields as null.

[richardlau]

FWIW we do attempt to determine glibc versions (compile and runtime versions) for inclusion in a diagnostics report

node/src/node_report.cc

Lines 363 to 376 in 99a3d55

	#ifndef _WIN32
	// Report compiler and runtime glibc versions where possible.
	const char* (*libc_version)();
	*(reinterpret_cast<void**>(&libc_version)) =
	dlsym(RTLD_DEFAULT, "gnu_get_libc_version");
	if (libc_version != nullptr)
	writer->json_keyvalue("glibcVersionRuntime", (*libc_version)());
	#endif /* _WIN32 */
	#ifdef __GLIBC__
	buf << __GLIBC__ << "." << __GLIBC_MINOR__;
	writer->json_keyvalue("glibcVersionCompiler", buf.str());
	buf.str("");
	#endif

    glibcVersionRuntime: '2.28',
    glibcVersionCompiler: '2.17'

[mhdawson]

@Brooooooklyn this seems like a small addition and reasonable to me at first glance. The best way to move forward is likely to submit a PR. Is that something you can do?

[Brooooooklyn]

@mhdawson I will try it

[styfle]

We're experiencing the optionalDependenices issue with Next.js and I think this process.versions.libc proposal would be a great solution!

@Brooooooklyn Did you start working on this yet? I can try an help out if needed. The npm team (@MylesBorins) is also interested in this solution 🙂

[Brooooooklyn]

@styfle not yet, I'm busy on the napi-rs 2.0, feel free to start this one

[styfle]

I created PR #41338 but it needs some work.

I'm unsure if this information is sufficient to solve the related npm install issue since you would likely need to detect musl too.

[github-actions]

There has been no activity on this feature request for 5 months and it is unlikely to be implemented. It will be closed 6 months after the last non-automated comment.

For more information on how the project manages feature requests, please consult the feature request management document.

[juanarbol]

Based on #41338 this seems to be resolved.

I'm proceeding to close this, but feel free to re-open if needed