You can try to download glibc from the official source and install it:

wget -c https://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/glibc/glibc-2.29.tar.gz
tar -zxvf glibc-2.29.tar.gz
mkdir glibc-2.29/build
cd glibc-2.29/build
../configure --prefix=/opt/glibc
make 
make install

Pay attention to avoid breaking your OS environment: you need to specify the prefix and configure the separate path when you are using it.


See this answer on how to use the alternate GLIBC.

Answer from Dolphin on Stack Overflow
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Ubuntu
launchpad.net › ubuntu › +source › glibc
glibc package in Ubuntu
The following unsupported and untrusted Personal Archives (PPAs) provide packages of 'glibc': GCC x86-64-v2 owned by PPA for Ubuntu Toolchain Uploads (restricted)
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Linuxier
linuxier.com › how-to-install-glibc-on-ubuntu
How to Install GLIBC on Ubuntu [22 Simple Steps] - Linuxier
May 12, 2024 - Clone the glibc repository from Git using the provided command, or download the latest stable release from the official GNU C Library website.
Top answer
1 of 2
6

You can use following commands to bring in newer version of glibc in ubuntu 20.04, but note that as it is a system package, upgrading it may impact your system.

apt-get install gawk bison gcc make wget tar -y
wget -c https://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/glibc/glibc-2.35.tar.gz
tar -zxvf glibc-2.35.tar.gz && cd glibc-2.35
mkdir glibc-build && cd glibc-build
../configure --prefix=/opt/glibc
make
make install
2 of 2
0

Introducing glibc will break your core binaries. Updated core binaries require a newer kernel which breaks hardware drivers (like NVIDIA) that need your old kernel. This "vicious cycle" makes it impossible to use new glibc w/o breaking your system.

The only solution is to compile the unsupported drivers somehow for the new kernel. So far this is not possible.

If you try using GLIBC without updating its dependencies, you will get complaints of a version mismatch on its dependencies which go all the way down to the kernel, which is why it is not possible.

Your options are limited and it is not possible unless you use a virtual machine. But likely VM is not what you want because VMs do not have the advantage of talking to your hardware directly. They have some VM extensions for making that better but they only cover CPU and RAM, not the video/sound card, that is all emulated.

Summary

If you want to run something that needs newer hardware, there is just no way around that:

  1. You cant use unsupported hardware on newer kernel, and therefore linker, and then GLIBC.

  2. You can't use unsupported GLIBC on older kernel which relies on the new kernel features. If you try to do it by force (point to new compiled version of the new binaries) you will get an error that the linker/kernel versions are incorrect.

  3. The only solution to this is if there was a way to update your hardware drivers. If that isn't your problem, then UPGRADE UBUNTU to the latest version. If that IS your problem, then you are out of luck.

  4. Companies like NVIDIA and AMD drop video support after a few years and leave you up a creek with no paddle, stranded on an old OS unless you buy yet another video card (even if your current one is fast and does just fine, they do NOT care).

  5. Sandboxing in flatpak still needs those libraries to be able to link with your kernel. Sandboxing only fixes dependencies that are above the base system level. HOWEVER, if any of those libraries were built against a binaries that recursively rely on newer core libraries, you will still be stuck and it will still not work, below is an example:

/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libc.so.6: version `GLIBC_2.34' not found
(required by /tmp/.mount_my2newapp.a9fz3/usr/bin/../../usr/lib/liblzma.so.5)

As you can see here, even though the appimage/flatpak/snap was sandboxed, it still needed these new libraries further down the dependency chain.

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Ubuntu
packages.ubuntu.com › focal › all › glibc-source › download
Download Page for glibc-source_2.31-0ubuntu9.7_all.deb
two or more packages specified (glibc-source focal) Content Copyright © 2025 Canonical Ltd.; See license terms. Ubuntu is a trademark of Canonical Ltd. Learn more about this site.
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Pkgs.org
pkgs.org › download › glibc-source
Glibc-source Download for Linux (deb rpm)
Download glibc-source packages for ALT Linux, Debian, Ubuntu
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Ubuntu
launchpad.net › ubuntu › noble › +source › glibc
Noble (24.04) : glibc package : Ubuntu
glibc-doc: GNU C Library: Documentation glibc-source: GNU C Library: sources libc-bin: GNU C Library: Binaries libc-bin-dbgsym: debug symbols for libc-bin libc-dev-bin: GNU C Library: Development binaries libc-dev-
Find elsewhere
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Its Linux FOSS
itslinuxfoss.com › home › ubuntu › how to install glibc on ubuntu 22.04
How to Install glibc on Ubuntu 22.04 – Its Linux FOSS
September 26, 2022 - Ubuntu 22.04 users can install glibc package by executing the command “sudo apt install glibc-source”. The installation method is described here in detail.
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Ubuntu
packages.ubuntu.com › source › focal › glibc
Ubuntu – Details of source package glibc in focal
September 1, 2022 - two or more packages specified (glibc focal) Content Copyright © 2026 Canonical Ltd.; See license terms. Ubuntu is a trademark of Canonical Ltd. Learn more about this site.
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DigitalOcean
digitalocean.com › community › questions › how-install-glibc-2-29-or-higher-in-ubuntu-18-04
How install GLIBC 2.29 or higher in Ubuntu 18.04 | DigitalOcean
June 6, 2020 - Which is that one of the modules I use (opencc) needs GLIBC 2.29 or superior. Ubuntu “standard” version is 2.27, so I checked if I could install the updated but I can’t. apt-cache madison libc6 libc6 | 2.27-3ubuntu1 | http://mirrors.digitalocean.com/ubuntu bionic/main amd64 Packages · I downloaded ...
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GitHub
gist.github.com › zchrissirhcz › ee13f604996bbbe312ba1d105954d2ed
Ubuntu Distro GCC GLIBC GLIBCXX C++-Standard versions · GitHub
Download ZIP · Ubuntu Distro GCC GLIBC GLIBCXX C++-Standard versions · Raw · versions.md · GLIBC versions: https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/glibc https://code.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/glibc · cat /etc/os-releases · Pick one of ...
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TecMint
tecmint.com › home › linux commands › how to install and run multiple glibc libraries in linux
How to Install and Run Multiple glibc Libraries in Linux
June 13, 2024 - First, download the required versions of glibc from the official glibc repository or a reliable source, or use the following wget command to download the glibc 2.39 and glibc 2.38 versions.
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Ubuntu
packages.ubuntu.com › source › bionic › glibc
Ubuntu – Error
two or more packages specified (glibc bionic) Content Copyright © 2026 Canonical Ltd.; See license terms. Ubuntu is a trademark of Canonical Ltd. Learn more about this site.
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Ubuntu
packages.ubuntu.com › source › jammy › glibc
Ubuntu – Details of source package glibc in jammy
» Ubuntu » Packages » jammy (22.04LTS) » Source » libs » glibc · [ jammy ] [ jammy-updates ] [ noble ] [ noble-updates ] [ plucky ] [ plucky-updates ] [ questing ] [ questing-updates ] [ resolute ] Bug Reports · Ubuntu Changelog · Copyright File · Debian Source Repository (Git) Ubuntu Developers (Mail Archive) Please consider filing a bug or asking a question via Launchpad before contacting the maintainer directly.
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Ubuntu
packages.ubuntu.com › glibc
Ubuntu – Package Search Results -- glibc
August 10, 2021 - You have searched for packages that names contain glibc in all suites, all sections, and all architectures.
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Ubuntu
packages.ubuntu.com › source › focal-updates › glibc
Source Package: glibc (2.31-0ubuntu9.16)
January 31, 2023 - two or more packages specified (glibc focal-updates) Content Copyright © 2026 Canonical Ltd.; See license terms. Ubuntu is a trademark of Canonical Ltd. Learn more about this site.
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Ubuntu
launchpad.net › ubuntu › focal › +source › glibc
Focal (20.04) : glibc package : Ubuntu
glibc-doc: No summary available for glibc-doc in ubuntu eoan. glibc-source: No summary available for glibc-source in ubuntu eoan. libc-bin: GNU C Library: Binaries libc-bin-dbgsym: No summary available for libc-bin-dbgsym in ubuntu eoan. ...