------- Additional Comments From apratt at us dot ibm dot com 2009-10-13 00:27 ------- It's the second one, with a variation. I wouldn't expect your second example to link successfully as written. If you change it so main() calls both a() and b(), it will link with today's GNU linker. That's because when liba comes in (thanks to the call to a), the symbols from its DT_NEEDED libraries are also visible for resolving symbols used in main(), like b. Not so with gold.
On the one hand you can say that a link line "should" express the direct, first-order dependencies of the program being linked. But with today's GNU linker, a project's link line does not have to do so. That's what's at issue. Gold risks suffering upon release with this kind of review: "It's great but there are a bunch of existing projects for which it doesn't work, so if you make it your system linker you risk having to tinker with projects you download and build." Over time, I'm sure projects would adapt - at least, those which are being maintained. But user resistance at first release could be a problem for widespread adoption. Of course, whether that's a problem really depends on your goals. I'm going to stop advocating either way because I don't really have a dog in this hunt. For our part, I'm sure we can make PurifyPlus work. I realize the current GNU linker behavior is ill-specified and variable, and it's probably hard to intentionally match any of the organically-evolved implementations. But I would worry about having built-in barriers to adoption out of the gate. I hope Ian can "collect real data rather than speculation" before the initial (wide) release, and version 1.0 gets the kind of reception he and the other project members desire. -- http://sourceware.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=10238 ------- You are receiving this mail because: ------- You are on the CC list for the bug, or are watching someone who is. _______________________________________________ bug-binutils mailing list bug-binutils@gnu.org http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/bug-binutils
