Fix for PR 5900 makes binutils incompatible with old object files: # readelf -Sg foo.o readelf: Error: section [96278] in group section [ 4] > maximum section [96023] readelf: Error: section [96277] in group section [ 5] > maximum section [96023] readelf: Error: section [96276] in group section [ 7] > maximum section [96023] I think binutils should issue a warning and support the old object files.
I reckon the best way to support old object files is to write a utility to fix them. Otherwise you need hacks in three places, bfd, readelf, and gold.
This seems like a poor solution, since the number of object files out there is very large. If you *do* adopt this approach, are the "fixed" object files still compatible with *older* versions of binutils? It would be unfortunate to adopt a solution that forces synchronized upgrades of binutils.
The number of object files is very large, but the number of object files with more than 65,279 sections is very small.
(In reply to comment #3) > The number of object files is very large, but the number of object files with > more than 65,279 sections is very small. > For people who have them, it is a big problem.
A patch is posted at http://sourceware.org/ml/binutils/2008-04/msg00348.html
Surely no longer even a small problem.