Date:	Sun, 4 Dec 94 16:20 PST
From:	jdp AT polstra DOT com (John Polstra)
To:	djgpp AT polstra DOT com
Cc:	ucko AT vax1 DOT rockhurst DOT edu
Subject:	Re: object file format change?

> > Configuring for the "stabs" format will allow
> > debugging of both C and C++ programs, using gdb.
>
> I assume that's what Linux uses, then?  [I've only had it for about a
> week...]

I don't know what Linux uses.  But it would surprise me if it used ELF.

> >Other than that, ELF sounds OK to me.  It's a pretty versatile object
> >format, much more so than COFF.
>
> So why wasn't it used ab initio?

ELF is newer than COFF, a.out, and most of the other commonly-used
Unix object file formats.  It probably didn't even exist when early
versions of DJGPP were released to the world.

ELF hasn't been supported by the GNU binutils for very long.

Stabs debugging symbols encapsulated in ELF haven't been supported by G++
for very long.  (I think just since 2.6.something.)

ELF is standard only on SVR4 variants of Unix.

And even there (SVR4), Solaris doesn't use it.  (I don't have direct
experience with Solaris.  I'm repeating what I have read elsewhere.
Somebody please correct me if I'm wrong on this point.)

ELF is more complicated than most of the other Unix file formats.

And probably some more reasons that I haven't thought of.

   John Polstra                                       jdp AT polstra DOT com
   John D. Polstra & Co., Inc.                   Phone (206) 932-6482
   Seattle, Washington USA                         Fax (206) 935-1262
   "Self-knowledge is always bad news."                 -- John Barth

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