From: <sandmann AT clio DOT rice DOT edu>
Newsgroups: comp.os.msdos.djgpp
Subject: Re: [Fwd: Re: ld2.4 vs ld2.5.2]
Date: Sat, 16 Nov 1996 12:37:49
Organization: Rice University, Houston, Texas
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Message-ID: <328db59d.sandmann@clio.rice.edu>
References: <328DD5B5 DOT 38DA AT pobox DOT oleane DOT com>
Reply-To: sandmann AT clio DOT rice DOT edu
NNTP-Posting-Host: clio.rice.edu
To: djgpp AT delorie DOT com
DJ-Gateway: from newsgroup comp.os.msdos.djgpp

> _pmlite.o is a Tasm compiled file, processed by EXMAOUT. 

Yes, and it makes an aout format object module instead of a COFF one.
This tool was provided by the EMX (GCC to OS/2) project.
The bug is in ld 2.5 and later - it was broken so it doesn't handle some
aout modules inserted into a library.  ld 2.4 and earlier seem to work
fine.  Since ld 2.4 is smaller, faster, and less buggy than the newer
releases ... you decide.  I am convinced that higher release numbers
are not always better.

The problem is that pmlite.o is a commerical product, and the authors of
OBJ2COFF have explicitly prohibited commerical use.

So, you can use a less buggy ld, or manually extract and individually link
to work around the ld bug, or use a restricted tool to convert from .obj
to COFF.