Your best bet would probably be to run do-release-upgrade to upgrade to Ubuntu 24.04. It probably not feasible to upgrade just glibc because it's a dependency of basically everything. Answer from throwaway234f32423df on reddit.com
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Reddit
reddit.com › r/ubuntu › how do i update glibc?
r/Ubuntu on Reddit: How do I update GLIBC?
July 24, 2025 -

I’m currently using GLIBC 2.35 on Ubuntu 22.04, and I want to update it (for gaming purposes).

I’m also aware that updating it isn’t as simple as typing:

“sudo apt update GLIBC yada yada”

or whatever, so I’m not entirely sure how to update it properly without bricking my install.

Any ideas on what to do?

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Devtuts
devtuts.net › en › linux › how-to-update-glibc.html
How to update glibc
June 15, 2024 - Most distributions ship tested glibc updates via their package manager: ... # Debian / Ubuntu / Kali sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install --reinstall libc6 # RHEL / CentOS / Rocky / AlmaLinux sudo yum reinstall glibc # or: sudo dnf reinstall glibc # openSUSE / SLES sudo zypper in --force ...
Top answer
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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
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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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Puppy Linux Discussion Forum
forum.puppylinux.com › board index › puppy linux main › house training › users help
How exactly do you update glibc? - Puppy Linux Discussion Forum
I don't do this sort of thing myself (I agree with @fredx181's sentiment), but from what I've gathered, most folks get an __already compiled__ glibc from somewhere (from newer Ubuntu/Debian depending on Puppy's upstream distro), usually in form of a package, and then transplant it into the old puppy (by deleting the old one, and then put in the new one). ... Here's my report of experiment on my Debian Buster 64-bit by replacing GLIBC with the contents of extracted packages libc6 and libc-bin from Bookworm (GLIBC version 2.36)
Find elsewhere
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LinuxQuestions.org
linuxquestions.org › questions › linux-from-scratch-13 › how-to-upgrade-glibc-4175599783-print
LinuxQuestions.org - How to upgrade glibc
LinuxQuestions.org (/questions/) · - Linux From Scratch (https://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/linux-from-scratch-13/) · - - How to upgrade glibc (https://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/linux-from-scratch-13/how-to-upgrade-glibc-4175599783/)
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UbuntuUpdates
ubuntuupdates.org › package › core › focal › universe › updates › glibc
UbuntuUpdates - Package "glibc" (focal 20.04)
All versions of this package · Bug fixes · List of files in package · Repository home page · Deleted packages are displayed in grey. glibc-source · libc6-pic · nscd · ← Previous 1 2 Next → · About - Send Feedback to @ubuntu_updates · google-chrome-beta 140.0.7339.41 ·
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Cache-miss
cache-miss.tech › blog › upgrade-glibc-in-ubuntu-1604
Upgrading Glibc on Ubuntu 16.04 | cache missing
January 11, 2025 - Upgrade Glibc on Ubuntu 16.04 to meet the requirements of VSCode Remote Development.
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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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Linux Mint Forums
forums.linuxmint.com › board index › chat › chat about linux mint
Has anyone made any attempt to upgrade glibc? - Linux Mint Forums
January 27, 2024 - Hi, The libraries may receive fixes, some libraries may be added, but glibc libraries keep the same version. They come from Ubuntu, not from Linux Mint.
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Ubuntu
launchpad.net › ubuntu › +source › glibc › +changelog
Change log : glibc package : Ubuntu - Launchpad
(LP: #2127856) - Explicitly enable sframe * d/p/git-updates.diff: Update from upstream stable branch. diff from 2.42-0ubuntu3 to 2.42-2ubuntu1 (16.3 KiB) ... glibc (2.35-0ubuntu3.12) jammy; urgency=medium * d/p/lp2089789-*.patch: fix malloc performance regression (LP: #2089789) -- Simon Chopin <email address hidden> Tue, 15 Jul 2025 11:40:00 +0200 · diff from 2.35-0ubuntu3.11 (in ~ubuntu-security-proposed/ubuntu/ppa) to 2.35-0ubuntu3.12 (1.9 KiB)
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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 - The package of “glibc” is available in the repository of Ubuntu 22.04 (codenamed Jammy Jellyfish). Follow these steps to get the latest version of the “glibc”: ... To get the latest version of any package available on the default repository, it is suggested to update the packages list of the system via the script:
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LinuxVox
linuxvox.com › blog › install-glibc-ubuntu
Installing glibc on Ubuntu: A Comprehensive Guide — linuxvox.com
The easiest way to install glibc on Ubuntu is by using the apt package manager. This method ensures that you get a version that is compatible with your system. # Update the package list sudo apt update # Install the glibc package sudo apt install ...