Debian/Alpha - ELF is ready for us

[Ian Jackson <ian@chiark.chu.cam.ac.uk>]

As you can see below, Linux on Alphas now supports ELF, so we can do
our ordinary shared library scheme and have no trouble.

If we want to we may be able to beat Red Hat to having a
shared-library-capable Linux/Alpha distribution.

What is required ?  Not much: we need about half a dozen or so people
who have enough time to go through the packages porting them.  Much of
the groundbreaking work has already been done by and for the m68k
folks.

We also need a machine or two.  We need at least one machine where the
half dozen or so people I mention above can be root.

Ian.

------- start of forwarded message (RFC 934 encapsulation) -------
From:	David Mosberger-Tang <davidm@azstarnet.com>
To:	axplinux-glibc@azstarnet.com, axp-list@redhat.com, linux-alpha@vger.rutgers.edu
Subject: glibc/ELF Linux/Alpha is self-hosting
Message-ID: <199607170440.VAA02528@panda.azstarnet.com>
Date: Wed, 17 Jul 1996 14:52:03 GMT

It is my pleasure to announce that the GNU libc/ELF based Linux/Alpha
system is now self-hosting.  This means that many packages starting
>from  aboot all the way to zlib has been built against glibc and with
shared libraries.  Even the nasty bits such as the kernel and the
PALcode have been built with the ELF tools.  The only exception to
this rule is the X server---the machine I'm doing this on has a TGA,
for which there is no server source code yet.  By now, the Linux
kernel, GNU C library, X11 libraries and clients, Emacs, as well as
several many packages have been built with the self-hosted system.

The result is quite impressive: what I have built so far fits on a
single 1GB drive with room to spare (and that includes all the
sources!).  In fact, not counting the sources on that drive, the
system takes up about 252MB of disk space.  Of course, this is not a
complete installation (e.g., TeX has not been built yet), but it does
include your basic X11 system, Emacs, etc.  As more X binaries are
built, the disk-space saved due to shared libraries will become even
more significant.

So what's the point of this announcement?  Well, if you're a
distributor, this is probably a good point to start switching to
glibc/ELF.  To avoid painful experiences, it may be better for
"end-users" to wait for such a distribution to arrive.  The reason for
this is two-fold.  First, upgrading incrementally is difficult because
the include files changed completely and because several important
system files changed their file format (e.g., utmp, I think the
timezone file may be different, too).  Second, some key tools needed
to build the ELF/glibc system are based on pre-releases which cannot
be made available widely.  But for those that want ELF/glibc really
bad and _now_, feel free to join the axplinux-libc@azstarnet.com
majordomo mailing list and get it going yourself.  As I said in an
earlier mail: be prepared for more than a weekend's worth of
work... ;-)

Some credit to the giants on whose shoulders this effort rests:

First, and foremost, thank Richard Henderson and Eric Youngdale for
their excellent ELF, dynamic-linker, and binutils work (and everything
else I forgot to mention).

As for glibc, Roland McGrath (FSF) and Ulrich Drepper (Cygnus) have
done a tremendous job in fixing bugs and bringing glibc up to snuff.
They also have been very patient in dealing with my constant prodding
and pushing.  That alone should speak volumes... :-))

Last but not least, much thanks to DEC Semiconductor for being so
generous in supporting Linux/Alpha development.  Having a machine that
builds stuff faster than I can reach for a cup of coffee helps a lot
in keeping caffeine at a non-lethal level... ;-)

If you want to get serious about moving to glibc/ELF, it's best to
discuss the details on axplinux-libc@azstarnet.com.  A README file
with some initial instructions is at:

 ftp://ftp.azstarnet.com/pub/linux/axp/glibc/README

Enjoy,
	--david

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