“No such file or directory” error when executing a binary

Question

I was installing a binary Linux application on Ubuntu 9.10 x86_64. The app shipped with an old version of gzip (1.2.4), that was compiled for a much older kernel:

Answer 1

It is possible that the executable is statically linked and that is why ldd gzip does not see any links - because it isn't. I don't know much about things that far back so I don't know if there would be incompatibilities if libraries are linked in statically. I might expect there to be.

I know it's the most obvious thing going and I'm sure you've done it, but chmod +x ./gzip, yes? No such file or directory is a classic symptom of that not being done, that's why I mention it.