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Subject: Re: Linux compat issue(s)
To: msmith@atrad.adelaide.edu.au (Michael Smith)
Date: Tue, 15 Oct 1996 12:41:26 +0200 (MET DST)
Cc: sos@FreeBSD.org, msmith@atrad.adelaide.edu.au, hackers@FreeBSD.org
In-Reply-To: <199610150938.TAA21719@genesis.atrad.adelaide.edu.au> from "Michael Smith" at Oct 15, 96 07:08:29 pm
From: sos@FreeBSD.org
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In reply to Michael Smith who wrote:
> 
> sos@FreeBSD.org stands accused of saying:
> > > 
> > > Should I assume that this is the "what static ELF binary is this" problem?
> > 
> > Exactly, the static ELF program is run as a FreeBSD native bin, there
> > is no way to know better (yet).
> > I guess we'll have to provide a solution for this shortcoming in
> > ELF (WHO said ELF was "the way to go" *sigh*)
> > I can do a "quick&dirty"(tm) little program that marks ELF bins so that
> > we can distinguish them, but it breaks the ELF std. one way or another.
> 
> I don't think we want Q&D.  I certainly don't.  

You are going to, there is NO, ZIP, ZERO provision in ELF for this !!
(the designers had a good sleep while doing the ELF spec).

> Where can I snarf the ELF spec to look at?  This is going to get really
> annying _very_ soon 8(

I had one, I'll see if I can find it, but it wont help you, ELF is
only supposed to handle ONE os type per platform, what we are
doing is blasfemy (ie not running SVR4).

There has been some talk between the various free groups, but there
has been no consensus yet, and I dont see the ELF std being rewritten
just because we say its faulty.
So ELF is like the plaque, there is no current cure :)

Yet another reason to stay with a.out :)

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Soren Schmidt             (sos@FreeBSD.org)             FreeBSD Core Team
               So much code to hack -- so little time.