From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 From: "David and Jannette Uczen" To: Cc: , , , , Subject: Re: IBM S/370 and binutils Date: Sat, 30 Oct 1999 19:32:00 -0000 Message-id: <000801bf2347$d6c8d780$2e81e3d8@duczen--lap.hannaford.com> X-SW-Source: 1999-10/msg00182.html I am willing to help in any way I can. I will contact Chris Swartout again and see if I can get an ABI. --David -----Original Message----- From: linas@linas.org To: David and Jannette Uczen Cc: linas@linas.org ; ian@zembu.com ; binutils@sourceware.cygnus.com ; cas30@oes.amdahl.com ; LINUX-VM@VM.MARIST.EDU Date: Saturday, October 30, 1999 2:45 PM Subject: Re: IBM S/370 and binutils >Hi David, > >It's been rumoured that David and Jannette Uczen said: >> >> You should be able to get an ABI from Amdahl Corporation, through UTS >> Technical Support. I have contacted a Chris A. Swartout >> (cas30@oes.amdahl.com), who verified that the value of EM_S370 (9) is used >> for IBM System/370 Processors. This value still exists in the binutils >> source (/binutils/include/elf/common.h). >> I have had the value officially registered with SCO (registry@sco.com). A >> new ABI is going to be published soon. >> I myself am trying to get ABI information, but haven't heard back yet. > >You apologized for a long overview in your last note, so let me do >the same here. > >Be aware that there are multiple ABI specs. The one kept by SCO >outlines the structure of the ELF file format that is common to *all* >ELF-based architectures. You can download this spec as a PDF file >from the SCO website; my webpage gives the pointer to it. The binutils >contain a back-end that knows how to manipulate this geenric file >format. > >Seperately, there are processor-specific ABI's that define things like >the stack layout, the static linkage and register conventions, the >dynamic linkage mechanisms, and occasionally even the system call >interfaces. I beleive SCO maintains the Intel ABI, Sun maintains the >PowerPC ABI, and SGI the MIPS ABI. It is this later document, that >hopefully Amdahl maintains for the IBM processors (isn't it a curious >accident of fate that processor ABI's seem to be maintained by >competitors?). > >In the gnu scheme of things, stack layout, register conventions are >handled by the compiler gcc. Dynamic linking is handled mostly by >the binutils ld loader, with assist from gcc. The system call >interfaces are a shared responsibility between the C Library glibc >and the kernel (Linux or UTS in Amdahl's case). As you can see, >ABI conformance has prevasive effects, and full, 100% conformance >can be a rather overwhelming task, especially when subtlties with >glibc and the OS kernel enter the picture. > >--linas > >