[RFC PATCH] Enabling ld -r ELF .stab/.stabstr optimization

[Alan Modra]

On Wed, Sep 25, 2002 at 10:03:29PM -0700, Earl Chew wrote:
> Here is a patch to enable .stab/.stabstr optimization in the presence
> of ld -r. This patch was generated against binutils-2.10.1 --- sorry
> the baseline is a little dated, but that's what I'm running.
> 
>          * bfd/elflink.h (elf_link_add_object_symbols): optimize .stabstr
>          even if relocatable
>          * ld/ldlang.c (wild_doit): discard debugging sections that have
>          been marked SEC_EXCLUDE

I'm a little nervous about this change, although I haven't thought of
any particular problem.  Suggestion:  Modify ld so that -r sets
link_info.traditional_format, and implement a -fno-traditional-format
option.  That way "ld -r" behaviour is unchanged unless you write
"ld -r -fno-traditional-format".  Oh, and cofflink.c should have a
similar change to your elflink.h change.

-- 
Alan Modra
IBM OzLabs - Linux Technology Centre