PATCH: Add --alt-nops=short|long to x86/x86-64 assemblers

[Nick Clifton]

Hi H.J.

> Since Pentium Pro, there are new nops instructions. This patch adds
> --alt-nops=short|long to x86/x86-64 assemblers. --alt-nops=short
> will generate a single nop instruction up to 10 bytes for code
> alignment. --alt-nops=long will generate a single nop instruction up
> to 15 bytes. Any comments?

I am not familiar with the x86 instruction set, so please can you 
explain why it is necessary to have these two different versions of the 
nop and why the user has to select one ?  ie if the space to be padded 
is up to 10 bytes why can't the assembler just use the "short" version 
automatically and if it is longer than 10 bytes use the "long" version ?

Cheers
   Nick