[Techtalk] ELF

[Val Henson]

On Sun, Jul 07, 2002 at 01:18:37PM -0700, Dave North wrote:
> Carla:
> > I gather that ELF is the native Linux binary file format. fine n dandy- I'm
> > seeing a lot of pages on converting to ELF from an older file format. Is this
> > really an issue in these modern time?
> 
> Seldom if ever. The odds are slim you're going to run into anything nonELF
> without being well warned, or just flat-out looking for it.
> 	Or, better: I haven't seen anything in a long, long time.

Right, I can only remember one instance of encountering a non-ELF
binary, and it obviously wasn't important because I don't even
remember what the program was. :)

> > Do older apps in the old format have to be recompiled?
> 
> The kernel can still manage older formats if compiled to do so, which I
> expect means the answer is, no. What I don't know is if your kernel is so
> compiled, or has the module available (or, for that matter, if that
> particular feature is modularized ...)

In 2.5.24, the configuration menu option "Executable file formats"
lists the executable file formats the kernel is configured to
support.  Each of the formats is, at least in theory, available as a
loadable module.  If I recall correctly, most distros build in ELF
support and compile the rest of the formats as modules.

Hm, learned something new today!  MISC format support is required for
running Java or Python.

-VAL