Re: a.out questions

[Ian Lance Taylor <ian@cygnus.com>]

   Date: Fri, 1 May 1998 22:02:20 +0200 (MET DST)
   From: Krister Walfridsson <cato@df.lth.se>

   In our exec header, there is a flag that tells if the code in the file
   is position independent. Should I add this to the flags in BFD, or is 
   this attribute obscure enough to keep only as private data in the a.out
   backend?

I think that is meaningful enough that it could be added to the list
of BFD flags.  The main reason it is not there right now is that most
targets which have a notion of position independent support do not
mention it in the program header, so there is no easy way for BFD to
know whether the flag applies.

   Are there any hooks I have missed that can solve my problems? As far I can 
   see, the hooks are present on a too high level, so I end up duplicating 
   nearly the whole aoutx.h. Or should I try to add new hooks?

You should add new hooks.  The hooks which exist right now are there
because they were useful for SunOS, not because they were designed in
any intelligent fashion.  Don't hesitate to add new hook functions
where you need them.

   By the way, are this mailing list the correct place to discuss changes to
   ld, or are there a ld list somewhere?

This is the right mailing list.

Ian