Newsgroups: comp.os.msdos.djgpp
From: tgm AT netcom DOT com (Thomas G. McWilliams)
Subject: Re: COFF and ELF exec formats
Message-ID: <tgmDy8I03.6t4@netcom.com>
Organization: Jot-Em-Down Store and Library
References: <Pine DOT SUN DOT 3 DOT 93 DOT 960922124049 DOT 380A-100000 AT napier DOT uwaterloo DOT ca> <524dag$q3n AT lastactionhero DOT rs DOT itd DOT umich DOT edu> <524jlf$ph9 AT client3 DOT news DOT psi DOT net>
Date: Tue, 24 Sep 1996 11:16:50 GMT
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Sender: tgm AT netcom9 DOT netcom DOT com
To: djgpp AT delorie DOT com
DJ-Gateway: from newsgroup comp.os.msdos.djgpp

Dan Nelson (dan AT dan DOT emsphone DOT com) wrote:
: Shared libraries work just fine in coff format, also.  FreeBSD has had
: shared coff libraries for years.  The object format doesn't really
: matter.

Wrong. FreeBSD uses the old Sun style a.out shared libraries and a.out
object files (which predate even COFF). 

Object file format is important for implementing state of the art
techniques in dynamic linking, debugging, and object oriented
libraries. Most the industry has moved to ELF for these reasons. Coff
and a.out object files are extremely limited in comparison. C++
especially benefits from an ELF implementation.

Last year D.J. Delorie mentioned his intention to move DJGPP to ELF
but I don't know what his time-table is.