c3lsp fails silently on Ubuntu 22.04 due to GLIBC version mismatch – no error notification in plugin #52

Description:

When installing the latest version of the C3 plugin (vscode-c3) on Ubuntu 22.04, the extension automatically downloads the bundled c3lsp binary. However, the LSP does not work at all – no errors, no popups, and no visible indications in the editor that something went wrong.

After manual investigation, I found that the downloaded lsp binary fails to start because it requires a newer version of GLIBC than is available on Ubuntu 22.04.

Steps to reproduce:

1. Install the latest c3.vscode-c3 extension in VS Code (or VS Code Server) on a fresh Ubuntu 22.04 system.
2. The extension automatically downloads c3lsp into its global storage directory (e.g., ~/.vscode-server/data/User/globalStorage/c3.vscode-c3/c3lsp_install/).
3. Open a C3 project – no LSP features (completion, diagnostics, etc.) appear.
4. No error notification or warning is shown by the plugin.

Manual check:

cd ~/.vscode-server/data/User/globalStorage/c3.vscode-c3/c3lsp_install
./lsp -v

Output:

./lsp: /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libm.so.6: version `GLIBC_2.38' not found (required by ./lsp)

Expected behavior:
The plugin should detect that the downloaded LSP binary cannot be executed (e.g., by checking the exit code or stderr when spawning the process) and display a clear error notification to the user, such as:

“Failed to start c3lsp: GLIBC 2.38 or later is required, but your system has an older version. Please upgrade your system or use a compatible build.”

Environment:

• OS: Ubuntu 22.04.5 LTS (GLIBC 2.35)
• VS Code / VS Code Server: latest (1.9x)
• Extension: c3.vscode-c3 (latest version as of 2026)

Additional context:
Ubuntu 22.04 ships with GLIBC 2.35, while the provided binary requires 2.38. This is a known compatibility issue. The plugin should either:

• Provide a fallback or a statically linked binary,
• Or at least notify the user clearly instead of failing silently.

Thank you for considering this improvement.