Why /usr/bin/python3: symbol lookup error on git branch comparision with difftool meld in ubuntu?

Question

I'm trying to compare two git branches using meld, in ubuntu with following command;

git difftool -d branch123

it gives me this error instead of comparision in meld:

/usr/bin/python3: symbol lookup error: /snap/core20/current/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libpthread.so.0: undefined symbol: __libc_pthread_init, version GLIBC_PRIVATE

I tried followings;

• Run meld alone, without difftool command - meld is working fine. The problem occurs only when used branch comparison with difftool.
• Completely uninstalled, and reinstalled meld - did not work
• Updated python3 - did not work

I guess, the problem started after an Ubuntu update few days ago. because the same command worked fine few weeks ago.

I tried using vimdiff, but it does not fit to my requirement. Any alternative similar to meld is also acceptable which allows branch comparison and easy transfer of changes like meld allows.

Can anyone please suggest me what more to try to get this issue solved?

Answer 1

Are you running from the VSCode cli? Then you could set this in the user settings JSON file:

"terminal.integrated.env.linux": {
  "GTK_PATH": ""
}

Have you tried cleaning the meld settings after you (maybe) updated it?

#!/bin/bash

cd ${HOME}
rm -rf ./.local/share/meld
rm -f ./Library/Preferences/org.gnome.meld.plist
rm -rf "./Library/Saved Application State/org.gnome.meld.savedState/"

I had to do both, but that worked for me. Those are from other answers, but I am a noob and can't link yet. :)