Re: Patch for Makefile to improve linkability of the kernel

Matti Aarnio (matti.aarnio@sonera.fi)
Tue, 15 Dec 1998 13:58:10 +0200 (EET)

Dr. Horst H. von Brand <vonbrand@inf.utfsm.cl> wrote:
> Michael Elizabeth Chastain <mec@shout.net> said:
> > > 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

Just Rules.make in Linux kernel sources.
...
> > (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...
>
> (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?

Stuff which is not very cleanly forbidden to be compiled at all
while creating those .a files, but which won't become linked in
at all if they are not referenced in the main code.
...
> --
> Dr. Horst H. von Brand mailto:vonbrand@inf.utfsm.cl

/Matti Aarnio <matti.aarnio@sonera.fi>

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