core file format spec?

[Roland McGrath]

> - What is the actual current practice?  For this, BFD is fine; the
>   Linux kernel sources work, too.

That's where you find it.  Linux is consistent in style if not in substance
with other ELF systems.

> - Where is the current practice specified?  I would expect this to be
>   prime ABI supplement material, but...

Uh... right.  So all the vendors can ship compatible core dumps?
(Remember: standardization in the real world happens on a need-to-know basis.)

As far as I know, the exact details of core file formats have always been
de facto a private matter between your kernel and your debugger (thus all
extant systems' formats are as publically scrutable as the gdb sources ;-).
In fact, it is a relatively recent notion in the history of Unix that the
hairy bits of core files would contain anything *other* than straight dumps
of your kernel's internal data structures.