Very odd 'bash' problem in RH7.1 - What!?!!

[Dennis McMurchy <denismcm@example.com>]

  I've had to reinstall completely because of the cracker who got into
my RH6.2 system.  I decided to go for RH7.1.  At least I've got a few
things working again the way they should without completely losing my
sanity, or did I speak too soon?

  What on earth can be happening here:

<root@example.com:/home/denis/internet>$ ls -l pppc*
-rwxr-xr-x    1 denismcm users         126 May 12  1997 pppc
-rwxr-xr-x    1 denismcm users         136 Nov 19  1996 pppc.big
-rwxr-xr-x    1 denismcm users        8017 Nov 13  1996 pppcosts
<root@example.com:/home/denis/internet>$ ./pppcosts
bash: ./pppcosts: No such file or directory
<root@example.com:/home/denis/internet>$ ls -l ./pppcosts
-rwxr-xr-x    1 denismcm users        8017 Nov 13  1996 ./pppcosts

  I just ignored this problem the first time I saw it, but even 'root'
can't run some applications that I've installed, eg. /usr/local/bin/xvscan,
even though they're executable and right there (!), bash just reports
"No such file or directory".

  Have I just completely lost my mind without realizing it, or what?

  Hope someone can shed some light on this.

  Cheers, Dennis
-- 
Dennis McMurchy,
Sointula, B.C. / Tojinmachi, Fukuoka
Canada           Japan