Re: Patch for Makefile to improve linkability of the kernel

Horst von Brand (vonbrand@inf.utfsm.cl)
Tue, 15 Dec 1998 10:03:02 -0300


Michael Elizabeth Chastain <mec@shout.net> said:
> Hi Peter,

> You wrote:
> > A much better idea is to use ld -r and use .o files isntead of .a
> > files.

> Why do you think this is a much better idea?
>
> I have three objections:
>
> (1) it involves touching a lot of Makefiles
> (2) it may cause the linker to drag in unneeded stuff to the resident image
> (3) it degrades error reporting by losing the name of the original .o file
>
> That's why I prefer --start-group and --end-group.

If I may chip in...

(1) is not too relevant, we should strive for the cleanest source
(including Makefiles) possible. Question is, is this a real cleanup?
BTW, you can arrange for "directory static" (not C's "file static")
symbols this way, if needed. Is this relevant?
Sure, it's a lot of work.

(2) is a killer. But then, why is there unneeded stuff in the *.a's? Sure,
I can think of situations where it does make sense. Are they present
here?

(3) again, a good point.

-- 
Dr. Horst H. von Brand                       mailto:vonbrand@inf.utfsm.cl
Departamento de Informatica                     Fono: +56 32 654431
Universidad Tecnica Federico Santa Maria              +56 32 654239
Casilla 110-V, Valparaiso, Chile                Fax:  +56 32 797513

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