[PATCH] objcopy --only-keep-debug vs SHT_NOTE

[Nick Clifton]

Hi Guys,

Frank Ch. Eigler wrote:
> Alan Modra <amodra@bigpond.net.au> writes:
> 
>> [...]  This of course makes the situation worse, as far as
>> --only-keep-debug and --strip-debug ought to partition a file into
>> two distinct sets of sections.  [...]
> 
> With the collected experience actually using separate debug files, it
> may make more sense to relax this non-intersection rule rather than
> enforce it rigidly.

I agree.  The intent of the --only-keep-debug option is to allow a 
binary to be split into two parts, one containing all the debug 
information and the other (after stripping), just containing the bits 
necessary for execution.  If splitting a binary in this way involves 
putting more than just debug sections into the "only-debug" file, such 
as note sections for comparison and synchronization purposes, then so be 
it.  As long as this behaviour is documented then I think that it would 
be better to have objcopy behave this way.  If the user truly does not 
want the note sections in the debug-only file they can always strip them 
out afterwards.

Cheers
   Nick