README
1 README for LD
2
3This is the GNU linker. It is distributed with other "binary
4utilities" which should be in ../binutils. See ../binutils/README for
5more general notes, including where to send bug reports.
6
7There are many features of the linker:
8
9* The linker uses a Binary File Descriptor library (../bfd)
10 that it uses to read and write object files. This helps
11 insulate the linker itself from the format of object files.
12
13* The linker supports a number of different object file
14 formats. It can even handle multiple formats at once:
15 Read two input formats and write a third.
16
17* The linker can be configured for cross-linking.
18
19* The linker supports a control language.
20
21* There is a user manual (ld.texinfo), as well as the
22 beginnings of an internals manual (ldint.texinfo).
23
24Installation
25============
26
27See ../binutils/README.
28
29If you want to make a cross-linker, you may want to specify
30a different search path of -lfoo libraries than the default.
31You can do this by setting the LIB_PATH variable in ./Makefile
32or using the --with-lib-path configure switch.
33
34To build just the linker, make the target all-ld from the top level
35directory (one directory above this one).
36
37Porting to a new target
38=======================
39
40See the ldint.texinfo manual.
41
42Reporting bugs etc
43===========================
44
45See ../binutils/README.
46
47Known problems
48==============
49
50The Solaris linker normally exports all dynamic symbols from an
51executable. The GNU linker does not do this by default. This is
52because the GNU linker tries to present the same interface for all
53similar targets (in this case, all native ELF targets). This does not
54matter for normal programs, but it can make a difference for programs
55which try to dlopen an executable, such as PERL or Tcl. You can make
56the GNU linker export all dynamic symbols with the -E or
57--export-dynamic command line option.
58
59HP/UX 9.01 has a shell bug that causes the linker scripts to be
60generated incorrectly. The symptom of this appears to be "fatal error
61- scanner input buffer overflow" error messages. There are various
62workarounds to this:
63 * Build and install bash, and build with "make SHELL=bash".
64 * Update to a version of HP/UX with a working shell (e.g., 9.05).
65 * Replace "(. ${srcdir}/scripttempl/${SCRIPT_NAME}.sc)" in
66 genscripts.sh with "sh ${srcdir}..." (no parens) and make sure the
67 emulparams script used exports any shell variables it sets.
68