Successfully got BitPim 1.06 test version running on Mandriva 2008.1

After downloading and installing the test version of BitPim for Linux RPM distros, I was completely upset that it did not work "out of the box". I felt like I had made a huge error in ditching Windows in favor of Mandriva Linux. I did some searching around Mandriva Forums for an answer to my questions and found that another user previous to myself had the same exact issue (albeit with an older version of Mandriva). What it turned out to be was that BitPim was developed using an older version of the expat library than what came with the distro. To add insult to injury, I was informed by the Mandriva staff that they no longer provided that older version of the expat library, stating that it was outdated and useless. I was informed that I would have to build a new version of the program to work against the newer version of the expat library.

So i did some digging around the BitPim development section to try to learn what was needed to do that, and during the course of my studies I was able to check out the source code and see some things that could be changed within it to make it work better with the newer firmware phones. But that is another story - this is one about how to make the program work on Mandriva 2008.1 without having to install additional software. I put in a request for help from the other users of BitPim by signing up to the bitpim-user mailing list. Lo and behold, I received the answer to my question. It was quite as simple as this:

ln -sf /usr/lib/libexpat.so.1 /usr/lib/libexpat.so.0

by linking the current expat library to a new file with the name of what BitPim was looking for, I was able to successfully start and use BitPim on Mandriva Linux 2008.1. My thanks to the helpful members of the bitpim-user mailing list.