Friendlier error when glibc too old, and properly declare min macOS

qt/launcher/Cargo.toml

@@ -14,6 +14,9 @@ anyhow.workspace = true
 camino.workspace = true
 dirs.workspace = true
 
+[target.'cfg(all(unix, not(target_os = "macos")))'.dependencies]
+libc.workspace = true
+
 [target.'cfg(windows)'.dependencies]
 windows.workspace = true
 widestring.workspace = true

qt/launcher/mac/Info.plist

@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@
 		<key>CFBundleShortVersionString</key>
 		<string>1.0</string>
 		<key>LSMinimumSystemVersion</key>
-		<string>11</string>
+		<string>12</string>
 		<key>CFBundleDocumentTypes</key>
 		<array>
 			<dict>

qt/launcher/src/main.rs

@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ use anki_process::CommandExt as AnkiCommandExt;
 use anyhow::Context;
 use anyhow::Result;
 
+use crate::platform::ensure_os_supported;
 use crate::platform::ensure_terminal_shown;
 use crate::platform::get_exe_and_resources_dirs;
 use crate::platform::get_uv_binary_name;
@@ -143,6 +144,8 @@ fn run() -> Result<()> {
     print!("\x1B[2J\x1B[H"); // Clear screen and move cursor to top
     println!("\x1B[1mAnki Launcher\x1B[0m\n");
 
+    ensure_os_supported()?;
+
     check_versions(&mut state);
 
     main_menu_loop(&state)?;

qt/launcher/src/platform/mod.rs

@@ -128,3 +128,10 @@ pub fn ensure_terminal_shown() -> Result<()> {
     print!("\x1b]2;Anki Launcher\x07");
     Ok(())
 }
+
+pub fn ensure_os_supported() -> Result<()> {
+    #[cfg(all(unix, not(target_os = "macos")))]
+    unix::ensure_glibc_supported()?;
+
+    Ok(())
+}

qt/launcher/src/platform/unix.rs

@@ -65,3 +65,34 @@ pub fn finalize_uninstall() {
     let mut input = String::new();
     let _ = stdin().read_line(&mut input);
 }
+
+pub fn ensure_glibc_supported() -> Result<()> {
+    use std::ffi::CStr;
+    let get_glibc_version = || -> Option<(u32, u32)> {
+        let version_ptr = unsafe { libc::gnu_get_libc_version() };
+        if version_ptr.is_null() {
+            return None;
+        }
+
+        let version_cstr = unsafe { CStr::from_ptr(version_ptr) };
+        let version_str = version_cstr.to_str().ok()?;
+
+        // Parse version string (format: "2.36" or "2.36.1")
+        let version_parts: Vec<&str> = version_str.split('.').collect();
+        if version_parts.len() < 2 {
+            return None;
+        }
+
+        let major: u32 = version_parts[0].parse().ok()?;
+        let minor: u32 = version_parts[1].parse().ok()?;
+
+        Some((major, minor))
+    };
+
+    let (major, minor) = get_glibc_version().unwrap_or_default();
+    if major < 3 || (major == 2 && minor < 36) {
+        anyhow::bail!("Anki requires a modern Linux distro with glibc 2.36 or later.");
+    }
+
+    Ok(())
+}