[BFD, LD, AArch64, 1/3] Add support for GNU PROPERTIES in AArch64 for BTI and PAC
[deliverable/binutils-gdb.git] / ld / NEWS
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252b5132 1-*- text -*-
97a232d7 2
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3Changes in 2.33:
4
5* Add target handlers for AArch64 for ELF GNU program properties.
6
7* Add support for GNU_PROPERTY_AARCH64_FEATURE_1_BTI in ELF GNU program
8 properties in the AArch64 ELF linker.
9
10* Add support for GNU_PROPERTY_AARCH64_FEATURE_1_PAC in ELF GNU program
11 properties in the AArch64 ELF linker.
12
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13Changes in 2.32:
14
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15* Report property change in linker map file when merging GNU properties.
16
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17* Add support for the C-SKY processor series.
18
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19* -t now doesn't report members within archives, unless -t is given twice.
20 A single -t is now more useful when generating a list of files that should be
21 packaged for a linker bug report. For example:
22 gcc hello.c -save-temps -Wl,-t | xargs realpath | sort | uniq > files
23 tar cJf test.tar.xz `cat files`
24
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25Changes in 2.31:
26
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27* Speed up direct linking with DLLs for Cygwin and Mingw targets.
28
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29* Add a configure option --enable-separate-code to decide whether
30 -z separate-code should be enabled in ELF linker by default. Default
31 to yes for Linux/x86 targets. Note that -z separate-code can increase
32 disk and memory size.
33
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34Changes in 2.30:
35
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36* Add -z separate-code to generate separate code PT_LOAD segment.
37
a05a5b64 38* Add "-z undefs" command-line option as the inverse of the "-z defs" option.
97a232d7 39
a05a5b64 40* Add -z globalaudit command-line option to force audit libraries to be run
93ab9c0d 41 for every dynamic object loaded by an executable - provided that the loader
6c19b93b 42 supports this functionality.
7feec526 43
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44* Tighten linker script grammar around file name specifiers to prevent the use
45 of SORT_BY_ALIGNMENT and SORT_BY_INIT_PRIORITY on filenames. These would
46 previously be accepted but had no effect.
47
48* The EXCLUDE_FILE directive can now be placed within any SORT_* directive
49 within input section lists.
50
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51Changes in 2.29:
52
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53* Support for -z shstk in the x86 ELF linker to generate
54 GNU_PROPERTY_X86_FEATURE_1_SHSTK in ELF GNU program properties.
55
56* Add support for GNU_PROPERTY_X86_FEATURE_1_SHSTK in ELF GNU program
57 properties in the x86 ELF linker.
58
ee2fdd6f 59* Add support for GNU_PROPERTY_X86_FEATURE_1_IBT in ELF GNU program
48580982 60 properties in the x86 ELF linker.
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61
62* Support for -z ibtplt in the x86 ELF linker to generate IBT-enabled
63 PLT.
64
65* Support for -z ibt in the x86 ELF linker to generate IBT-enabled
66 PLT as well as GNU_PROPERTY_X86_FEATURE_1_IBT in ELF GNU program
67 properties.
68
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69* Add support for ELF SHF_GNU_MBIND and PT_GNU_MBIND_XXX.
70
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71* Add support for ELF GNU program properties.
72
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73* Add support for the Texas Instruments PRU processor.
74
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75* When configuring for arc*-*-linux* targets the default linker emulation will
76 change if --with-cpu=nps400 is used at configure time.
77
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78* Improve assignment of LMAs to orphan sections in some edge cases where a
79 mixture of both AT>LMA_REGION and AT(LMA) are used.
80
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81* Orphan sections placed after an empty section that has an AT(LMA) will now
82 take an load memory address starting from LMA.
83
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84* Section groups can now be resolved (the group deleted and the group members
85 placed like normal sections) at partial link time either using the new linker
86 option --force-group-allocation or by placing FORCE_GROUP_ALLOCATION into the
87 linker script.
88
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89Changes in 2.28:
90
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91* The EXCLUDE_FILE linker script construct can now be applied outside of the
92 section list in order for the exclusions to apply over all input sections in
93 the list.
94
e23eba97 95* Add support for the RISC-V architecture.
76359541 96
a05a5b64 97* The command-line option --no-eh-frame-hdr can now be used in ELF based
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98 linkers to disable the automatic generation of .eh_frame_hdr sections.
99
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100* Add --in-implib=<infile> to the ARM linker to enable specifying a set of
101 Secure Gateway veneers that must exist in the output import library specified
102 by --out-implib=<outfile> and the address they must have. As such,
103 --in-implib is only supported in combination with --cmse-implib.
104
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105* Extended the --out-implib=<file> option, previously restricted to x86 PE
106 targets, to any ELF based target. This allows the generation of an import
107 library for an ELF executable, which can then be used by another application
108 to link against the executable.
109
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110Changes in 2.27:
111
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112* Add a configure option --enable-relro to decide whether -z relro should
113 be enabled in ELF linker by default. Default to yes for all Linux
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114 targets except FRV, HPPA, IA64 and MIPS. Note that -z relro can increase
115 disk and memory size.
647e4d46 116
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117* Support for -z noreloc-overflow in the x86-64 ELF linker to disable
118 relocation overflow check.
119
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120* Add -z common/-z nocommon options for ELF targets to control whether to
121 convert common symbols to the STT_COMMON type during a relocatable link.
122
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123* Support for -z nodynamic-undefined-weak in the x86 ELF linker, which
124 avoids dynamic relocations against undefined weak symbols in executable.
125
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126* The NOCROSSREFSTO command was added to the linker script language.
127
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128* Add --no-apply-dynamic-relocs to the AArch64 linker to do not apply link-time
129 values for dynamic relocations.
130
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131Changes in 2.26:
132
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133* Add --fix-stm32l4xx-629360 to the ARM linker to enable a link-time
134 workaround for a bug in the bus matrix / memory controller for some of
135 the STM32 Cortex-M4 based products (STM32L4xx)
81c23f82 136
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137* Add a configure option --enable-compressed-debug-sections={all,ld} to
138 decide whether DWARF debug sections should be compressed by default.
139
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140* Add support for the ARC EM/HS, and ARC600/700 architectures.
141
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142* Experimental support for linker garbage collection (--gc-sections)
143 has been enabled for COFF and PE based targets.
144
a05a5b64 145* New command-line option for ELF targets to compress DWARF debug
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146 sections, --compress-debug-sections=[none|zlib|zlib-gnu|zlib-gabi].
147
a05a5b64 148* New command-line option, --orphan-handling=[place|warn|error|discard], to
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149 adjust how orphan sections are handled. The default is 'place' which gives
150 the current behaviour, 'warn' and 'error' issue a warning or error
151 respectively when orphan sections are found, and 'discard' will discard all
152 orphan sections.
3ea60775 153
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154* Add support for LLVM plugin.
155
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156* Add --print-memory-usage option to report memory blocks usage.
157
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158* Add --require-defined option, it's like --undefined except the new symbol
159 must be defined by the end of the link.
160
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161Changes in 2.25:
162
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163* PE binaries now once again contain real timestamps by default. To disable
164 the inclusion of a timestamp in a PE binary, use the --no-insert-timestamp
a05a5b64 165 command-line option.
eeb14e5a 166
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167* Replace support for openrisc and or32 with support for or1k.
168
a05a5b64 169* Add support for the --build-id command-line option to COFF based targets.
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170
171* x86/x86_64 pe-coff now supports the --build-id option.
172
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173* Add support for the Andes NDS32.
174
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175Changes in 2.24:
176
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177* Add LOG2CEIL() builtin function to the linker script language
178
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179* Add support for the Texas Instruments MSP430X processor.
180
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181* Add support for Altera Nios II.
182
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183* Add support for the V850E3V5 architecture.
184
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185* Add support for the Imagination Technologies Meta processor.
186
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187* --enable-new-dtags no longer generates old dtags in addition to new dtags.
188
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189* Remove linker support for MIPS ECOFF targets.
190
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191* Add ALIGN_WITH_INPUT to the linker script language to force the alignment of
192 an output section to use the maximum alignment of all its input sections.
193
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194Changes in 2.23:
195
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196* Enable compressed debug section feature for x86/x86_64 pe-coff.
197
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198* Add support for the 64-bit ARM architecture: AArch64.
199
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200* Added SORT_NONE to the linker script language to disable section sorting.
201
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202* Add a linker-provided symbol when producing ELF output, '__ehdr_start'
203 to point to the ELF file header (and nearby program headers) in the
204 program's memory image.
205
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206* Add support for S12X processor.
207
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208* Add support for the VLE extension to the PowerPC architecture.
209
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210* Add support for the Freescale XGATE architecture.
211
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212* Add option -f FILE on AIX (for response file).
213
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214* Add support for the Renesas RL78 architecture.
215
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216* Add support for the Adapteva EPIPHANY architecture.
217
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218Changes in 2.22:
219
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220* --copy-dt-needed-entries is no longer enabled by default. Instead
221 --no-copy-dt-needed-entries is the default.
222
ae17ab41 223* INPUT_SECTION_FLAGS has been added to the linker script language
cfb8c092 224 to allow selection of input sections by section header section flags.
ae17ab41 225
69f56ae1 226* Add support for the Tilera TILEPro and TILE-Gx architectures.
90b3661c 227
02ecc8e9 228* Added SORT_BY_INIT_PRIORITY to the linker script language to permit
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229 sorting sections by numerical value of the GCC init_priority attribute
230 encoded in the section name.
02ecc8e9 231
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232Changes in 2.21:
233
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234* Linker script expression evaluation is somewhat more sane. This may
235 break scripts that depend on quirks of the old expression evaluation.
236
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237* Turn off underscoring for x86_64 PE+-COFF targets. For old behavior the
238 option --enable-leading-mingw64-underscores can be used on configure of
239 bfd.
240
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241* Add support for the TMS320C6000 (TI C6X) processor family.
242
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243* --add-needed renamed to --copy-dt-needed-entries in order to avoid confusion
244 with --as-needed option.
245
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246* Extend .def file syntax by '== <ID>' for imports and exports. This allows
247 to alias the import/export table name written in PE image.
248
a72173de 249* Add --exclude-all-symbols option to PE based linkers. This prevents all
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250 symbols from automatically being exported.
251
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252* Add support for the Renesas RX processor.
253
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254* Add support for alpha-vms target.
255
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256Changes in 2.20:
257
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258* GNU/Linux targets now support the STB_GNU_UNIQUE symbol binding. This is a
259 GNU extension to the standard set of ELF symbol bindings. The binding will
260 be passed on to the dynamic linker which will make sure that in the entire
261 process there is just one symbol with the given name and type in use.
ce11ba6c 262
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263* PE targets now support a GNU extension to allow the alignment of common
264 common symbols to be specified. This support uses custom options in
265 the .drectve section, which will be disregarded by the native tools.
266
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267* PE targets now add primitive support for ELF version scripts; symbols
268 are not versioned, but the local and global symbol visibility directives
269 are respected when filtering symbols in auto-export mode.
270
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271* New option --no-export-dynamic to undo the effect of the -E and
272 --export-dynamic options.
273
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274* ELF: --warn-alternate-em option to warn if an object has alternate
275 ELF machine code.
276
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277* New script function REGION_ALIAS to add alias names to memory regions.
278
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279* PE targets no longer make use of the long section names PE extension to
280 the COFF format when generating executable images, by default. The old
281 (slightly non-conformant) behaviour can still be invoked by using the
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282 new '--enable-long-section-names' command-line option. It is also enabled
283 automatically in the presence of un-stripped debug information, as GDB
284 needs to be able to find the debug info sections by their full names.
88183869 285
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286* For GNU/Linux systems the linker will now avoid processing any relocations
287 made against symbols of the STT_GNU_IFUNC type and instead emit them into
288 the resulting binary for processing by the loader.
289
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290* --as-needed now links in a dynamic library if it satisfies undefined
291 symbols in regular objects, or in other dynamic libraries. In the
292 latter case the library is not linked if it is found in a DT_NEEDED
293 entry of one of the libraries already linked.
294
a05a5b64 295* Add a new command-line option, -Ttext-segment ADDR, for ELF targets
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296 to set the address of the first byte of the text segment.
297
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298* Add support for Sunplus score architecture.
299
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300* Add new option --use-nul-prefixed-import-tables to ld for PE targets to
301 allow fallback to old import table generation with null element prefix.
302
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303* Windows PE systems now support a new --exclude-modules-for-implib option,
304 allowing users to partition object files and archive members between a DLL
305 and its associated import library as they are generated during linking.
306
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307* Add support for Lattice Mico32 (lm32) architecture.
308
62655c7b 309* Add CR16 ELF --embedded-relocs (used to embedded relocations into binaries
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310 for Embedded-PIC code) option.
311
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312* Add to the PE/PE+ targets the support of two different kinds of
313 pseudo-relocations. They can be selected by the switches
314 --enable-runtime-pseudo-reloc-v1 and --enable-runtime-pseudo-reloc-v2.
315 For the switch --enable-runtime-pseudo-reloc it uses for 32-bit
316 runtime pseudo relocation version one, for 64-bit the version two.
317
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318Changes in 2.19:
319
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320* Linker scripts support a new INSERT command that makes it easier to
321 augment the default script.
322
967928e9 323* Linker script input section filespecs may now specify a file within an
66c103b7 324 archive by writing "archive:file".
967928e9 325
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326* The --sort-common switch now has an optional argument which specifies the
327 direction of sorting.
328
7fb9f789 329* The M68K linker now supports multiple GOT generation schemes controlled via
a05a5b64 330 the --got=<type> command-line option.
7fb9f789 331
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332* The ARM EABI linker will now generate stubs for function calls to symbols
333 that are too far away. The placement of the stubs is controlled by a new
a05a5b64 334 linker command-line option: --stub-group-size=N.
726150b7 335
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336Changes in 2.18:
337
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338* Linker sources now released under version 3 of the GNU General Public
339 License.
340
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341* ELF: New --build-id option to generate a unique per-binary identifier
342 embedded in a note section.
343
3d3d428f 344* Added support for National Semicondutor CompactRISC (ie CR16) target.
a19bcec6 345
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346* -l:foo now searches the library path for a filename called foo,
347 without converting it to libfoo.a or libfoo.so.
348
a05a5b64 349* Add a new command-line option '--default-script=FILE' or '-dT FILE'
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350 which specifies a replacement for the built in, default linker
351 script.
352
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353* ELF: Add -Bsymbolic-functions, --dynamic-list-cpp-new, which puts C++
354 operator new and delete on the dynamic list, and --dynamic-list-data,
355 builtin list for --dynamic-list, which puts global data symbols on the
356 dynamic list.
357
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358* Add support for x86_64 PE+ target.
359
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360* Add support for Score target.
361
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362* ELF: Add --dynamic-list option to specify a list of global symbols
363 whose references shouldn't be bound to the definition within the
364 shared library, or a list of symbols which should be added to the
365 symbol table in the executable.
366
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367* The default output section LMA has changed for allocatable sections from
368 being equal to VMA, to keeping the difference between LMA and VMA the same as
369 the previous output section in the same region. This is a more useful
370 default when using overlays and other cases where you specify an LMA
371 differing from the VMA for some sections.
372
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373* New switch: --print-gc-sections to list any sections removed by garabge
374 collection.
375
c6dd86c6 376* ARM: Added --vfp11-denorm-fix option to work around an erratum in current
f96b4a7b 377 VFP11 coprocessors.
c6dd86c6 378
c17d87de 379Changes in 2.17:
cf88bb9f 380
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381* Support for the Infineon XC16X has been added by KPIT Cummins Infosystems.
382
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383* Modify the Linux linker search order to better match ld.so search order.
384 Look for DT_NEEDED libraries in paths specified by ld.so.conf before
385 searching the default directories, rather than vice versa.
386 Use $prefix/etc/ld.so.conf if it exists, otherwise /etc/ld.so.conf.
c1446dba 387
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388* PE-COFF: Forward exports from DLL's can now be specified in .def files
389 passed directly to ld.
390
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391* Support for the Z80 processor family has been added.
392
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393* Add support for the "@<file>" syntax to the command line, so that extra
394 switches can be read from <file>.
395
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396Changes in 2.16:
397
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398* Support for the R_ARM_V4BX relocation as defined in the ARM AAELF
399 specification has been added via the --fix-v4bx command-line option.
400
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401* New linker script construct AS_NEEDED(), which sets the --as-needed flag
402 for input files listed inside of it.
403
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404* A new command-line option, --sysroot, can be used to override the
405 default sysroot location. It only applies to toolchains that were
406 configured using --with-sysroot.
407
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408* New linker script functions: ORIGIN() and LENGTH() which return information
409 about a specified memory region.
410
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411* Port to MAXQ processor contributed by HCL Tech.
412
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413* Added SEGMENT_START to the linker script language to permit the user to
414 override the base address for a segment from the command-line.
415
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416* ELF: --warn-shared-textrel option to warn if adding a DT_TEXTREL to a shared
417 object.
418
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419* Added SORT_BY_NAME and SORT_BY_ALIGNMENT to the linker script
420 language to permit sorting sections by section name or section
421 maximum alignment.
422
a05a5b64 423* Added a new linker command-line switch, --sort-section name|alignment,
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424 to sort sections by section name or maximum alignment.
425
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426* ELF: --add-needed/--no-add-needed options to control if a DT_NEEDED tag
427 should be added when a shared library comes from DT_NEEDED tags.
14b3c463 428
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429* Support for the crx-elf target added.
430
1a320fbb 431* Support for the sh-symbianelf target added.
1fe1f39c 432
a05a5b64 433* A new linker command-line switch has been added which allows the hash table
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434 size to be set to a suitable prime value near to its argument. This switch
435 is --hash-size=<NUMBER>. Also if the switch --reduce-memory-overheads is
436 used, and --hash-size has not been used, then the default value will be set
437 to 1021.
438
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439* Linker map files are now generated with an O(N) algorithm for finding symbols
440 that are defined in each section. This uses about 40% more memory for
441 symbols than the old O(N^2) algorithm. You can use the new
442 --reduce-memory-overheads option to select the old algorithm; this option
443 might also be used in the future to select similar tradeoffs.
444
2d643429 445Changes in 2.15:
14b3c463 446
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447* ELF: --as-needed/--no-as-needed options to control if a DT_NEEDED tag should
448 be added only when a shared library is referenced.
c0065db7 449
8fdd7217 450* PE: --large-address-aware option to indicate executables support virtual
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451 addresses greater than 2 gigabytes.
452
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453* DWARF 2 support for i386pe added.
454
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455* The linker script operator DEFINED() will now yield 1 only for a symbol that
456 is defined before the statement where DEFINED is used.
457
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458* The MIPS --embedded-relocs (used to embed relocations into binaries for
459 Embedded-PIC code) is deprecated and will be removed in a future release.
460
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461* cr16c support added by NSC.
462
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463* m32r Linux (ELF) support added by Renesas.
464
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465* Improved linker's handling of unresolved symbols. The switch
466 --unresolved-symbols=<method> has been added to tell the linker when it
467 should report them and the switch --warn-unresolved-symbols has been added to
468 make reports be issued as warning messages rather than errors.
469
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470Changes in 2.14:
471
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472* Added support for Xtensa architecture.
473
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474* Added --with-sysroot configure switch to specify a target system root, for
475 linking against a target filesystem image.
476
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477* Added --accept-unknown-linker-format to restore old linker behaviour (pre
478 2.14) of silently accepting and linking in any files in an unknown binary
479 file format.
480
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481* Added --no-omagic to undo the effects of the -N option.
482
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483* Support for Texas Instruments TMS320C4x and TMS320C3x series of
484 DSP's contributed by Michael Hayes and Svein E. Seldal.
c0065db7 485
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486* Added --with-lib-path configure switch to specify default value for
487 LIB_PATH.
488
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489* ARM port to QNX operating system added by Graeme Peterson.
490
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491* IP2K support added by Denis Chertykov.
492
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493Changes in 2.13:
494
495* Support for the Fujitsu FRV architecture added by Red Hat. Models for FR400
496 and FR500 included.
7d553a40 497
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498Changes in version 2.13:
499
500* DEC VAX ELF support, by Matt Thomas.
501
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502Changes in version 2.12:
503
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504* Support for Don Knuth's MMIX, by Hans-Peter Nilsson.
505
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506* Support for the OpenRISC 32-bit embedded processor by OpenCores.
507
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508* Support for -z nocopyreloc in the x86 ELF linker, which disables
509 production of copy relocs. Warning: using this option may result in
510 non-sharable applications.
5b343f5a 511
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512* Support for -z combreloc in the ELF linker, which puts dynamic
513 relocations against the same symbol together, so that dynamic linker
514 can use an one-entry symbol lookup cache.
515
516* Support for ELF SHF_MERGE section merging, by Jakub Jelinek.
517
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518Changes in version 2.11:
519
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520* Support for AMD x86-64 architecture, by Jan Hubicka, SuSE Labs.
521
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522* Support added for eliminating duplicate DWARF2 debug information by
523 having the compiler generate the information in sections called
524 .gnu.linkonce.wi.XXXX where XXXX is a checksum for the contents. The
525 linker then merges these sections together into the normal .debug_info
526 section.
252b5132 527
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528* The native ELF linker now searches the directories in DT_RUNPATH or
529 DT_RPATH of a shared library for shared libraries needed by it.
530
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531* TI C54x support, by Timothy Wall.
532
a05a5b64 533* Added command-line switch --section-start to set the start address of any
c0065db7 534 specified section.
176355da 535
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536* Added ability to emit full relocation information in linked executables,
537 enabled by --emit-relocs. Some post-linkage optimization tools need
538 this information in order to be able to correctly identify and perform
539 symbol relative addressing in the event of changes in section contents
540 (instructions being added or deleted, extending data sections, etc.)
541
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542* Support for i860, by Jason Eckhardt (preliminary, alpha quality).
543
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544* Support for CRIS (Axis Communications ETRAX series).
545
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546* Support for PDP-11 and 2.11BSD a.out format, by Lars Brinkhoff.
547
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548Changes in version 2.10:
549
c0065db7 550* Added AT> to the linker script language to allow load-time allocation of
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551 sections into regions.
552
c0065db7 553* Added garbage collection of unused sections, enabled by --gc-sections.
252b5132 554 It does require a bit of backend support; currently implemented are
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555 arm-elf, avr-elf, d10v-elf, fr30-elf, i386-elf, m32r-elf, m68k-elf,
556 mcore-elf, mips-elf, mn10300-elf, ppc-elf, sh-elf, sparc-elf, and v850-elf.
987fd5b4 557 Others will ignore the option.
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558
559* Added SORT to the linker script language to permit sorting sections by file
560 name or section name.
561
562* Added EXTERN to the linker script language as an equivalent to the -u
563 command-line option.
564
565* Added ASSERT to the linker script language.
566
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567* Added EXCLUDE_FILE to the linker script language for further control over
568 wildcard file names.
569
252b5132 570* Added -O option to optimize linker output (as of this writing, this only
500800ca 571 affects ELF shared library generation).
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572
573* The -e option now accepts a number as well as a symbol name.
574
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575* Added --no-undefined option to disallow undefined symbols when creating a
576 shared library.
577
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578* The linker now issues a warning, not an error, for an undefined symbol when
579 using -Bsymbolic; use the new --no-undefined option to get the old
580 behaviour.
581
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582* Added --demangle and --no-demangle options.
583
584Changes in version 2.9:
585
586* Added SQUAD to the linker script language.
587
588* New option --no-warn-mismatch.
589
590* The MEMORY command now parses the attributes to determine where sections that
591 are not placed in a specific memory region are placed.
592
593Changes in version 2.8:
594
595* Linker scripts may now contain shell wildcard characters for file and section
596 names.
597
598* The linker now supports symbol versions in ELF.
599
600* The NOCROSSREFS command was added to the linker script language.
601
602* The LOADADDR expression was added to the linker script language.
603
604* MAX and MIN functions were added to the linker script language.
605
606* The OVERLAY construct was added to the linker script language.
607
608* New option --warn-section-align to warn when the address of an output section
609 changes due to alignment of an input section.
610
611* New options --filter/-F and --auxiliary/-f.
612
613Changes in version 2.7:
614
615* New option --cref to print out a cross reference table.
616
617* New option --wrap SYMBOL.
618
619* New option --no-whole-archive, to turn off the effect of --whole-archive.
620
621* Input sections assigned to the output section /DISCARD/ in the linker script
622 are not included in the output file.
623
624* The SunOS and ELF linkers now merge stabs debugging information which uses
625 the N_BINCL and N_EINCL stab types. This reduces the amount of debugging
626 information generated.
627
628Changes in version 2.6:
629
630* When an ELF section name is representable as a C identifier (this is not true
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631of most ELF section names), the linker will automatically define symbols
632__start_SECNAME and __stop_SECNAME, where SECNAME is the section name, at the
633beginning and the end of the section. This is used by glibc.
634
635 Addendum: Current versions of the linker (at least for version 2.18 onwards
636and possibly much earlier as well) place two restrictions on this feature: The
637symbols are only implemented for orphaned sections, not for explicitly placed
638sections and they are PROVIDEd rather than being defined.
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639
640* When an ELF section named .gnu.warning is encountered in an input file, the
641contents of the section are displayed as an error message, and the section is
642not copied into the output file. This is used by glibc.
643
644* When an ELF section named .gnu.warning.SYMBOL is encountered in an input
645file, and the symbol SYMBOL is referenced by some object file, the contents of
646the section are displayed as an error message. The section is not copied into
1049f94e 647the output file, unless doing a relocatable or shared link. This is used by
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648glibc.
649
650* New options -split-by-reloc and -split-by-file.
651
652* The linker now supports linking PIC compiled code on SPARC SunOS. It can
653also create SPARC SunOS shared libraries, and, like the native SunOS linker,
654will do so whenever there is an undefined symbol in the link and neither the -e
655nor the -r option was used.
656
657* The -rpath option may be used on SunOS to set the list of directories to be
658searched at run time. This overrides the default of building the list from the
659-L options.
660
661* The COFF linker now combines debugging information for structs, unions, and
662enums, so that even if the same type is defined in multiple input files it will
663only be defined once in the output file. The --traditional-format switch will
664prevent this optimization.
665
666Changes in version 2.5:
667
668* The linker now supports linking against SunOS shared libraries. It still can
669not link SunOS PIC (Position Independent Code) files, so it can not be used to
07f3b6ad 670generate shared libraries.
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671
672* The linker now supports linking against ELF shared libraries for the i386
673(UnixWare) and SPARC (Solaris). It can also link ELF PIC files, and can be
674used to generate shared libraries. Shared library generation is not well
675tested; please report any problems encountered. The linker is now enabled for
676Solaris again.
677
678* Eric Youngdale has contributed Linux support code, including linking against
679Linux a.out shared libraries. The linker produces Linux QMAGIC binaries.
680
681* The ELF backend has been converted to the new linker code. To use the new
682ELF linker, each particular target requires a relocation function. So far,
683this function has been written for i386 (UnixWare), SPARC (Solaris) MIPS (Irix
6845), and HPPA ELF targets.
685
686* The -( (--start-group) and -) (--end-group) options have been added to
687support searching a group of archives as though they were a single archive.
688This can also be used in a linker script, as GROUP ( files ).
689
690* When a file is named on the command line, and the linker does not recognize
691it as an object file, the linker will now treat the file as a linker script
692file. A linker script named in this way augments, but does not replace, the
693default linker script.
694
695* The -warn-once option was added. It causes the linker to only warn once per
696undefined symbol, rather than once per reference.
697
698* The COFF backend has been converted to the new linker code. As with ELF, to
699use the new linker, each particular target requires a relocation function. So
700far, this function has been written for the i386, m68k, a29k and SH targets.
701
702* The -V flag was made a synonym for -v, for SVR4 compatibility. The old -V
703behaviour is available via --verbose.
704
705Changes in version 2.4:
706
707* New linker code, by Steve Chamberlain and Ian Taylor. For a.out and ecoff
708 formats (so far), this should result in considerable savings in time
709 and memory used while linking; slightly poorer performance than
710 before for formats not converted yet.
711
712* Command-line parsing is no longer done with flex. This means
713 oddball characters in filenames won't get treated as argument
714 separators.
715
716* HP-PA ELF support, by Jeff Law. (No SOM support yet.)
717
718* Mach i386 support, by David Mackenzie.
719
720* Irix 4 shared libraries are now supported (Irix 5 uses ELF, and ELF shared
721 libraries are not yet supported).
722
723* COFF shared libraries (as on SCO) should work as well.
724
725* The linker is disabled for Solaris. (Actually, it was in 2.3 also, I just
726 forgot to note it.) Some of their C library routines don't work when
727 statically linked, and the GNU linker doesn't support dynamic linking yet.
728
729Changes in version 2.3:
730
731* Weak symbols are now supported.
732
733* ELF support has been added. The linker has been bootstrapped on
734 UnixWare and Solaris.
735
736* Alpha OSF/1 support has been added (non dynamic linking only).
737
738Changes in version 2.2:
739
740* The `bfd' library has been updated to reduce a.out-format string
741 table size. The effect of this is that files linked from many input
742 files with duplicate symbols (`-g' debugging records, or identical
743 static symbols) should be much smaller.
744
745Changes in version 2.1:
746
747* The ld -ySYMBOL flag (to trace references to SYMBOL) is now implemented.
748
749* There is now support for writing ECOFF files, so ld and the
750 other utilities should work on Risc/Ultrix and Irix.
751
752\f
82704155 753Copyright (C) 2012-2019 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
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754
755Copying and distribution of this file, with or without modification,
756are permitted in any medium without royalty provided the copyright
757notice and this notice are preserved.
758
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759Local variables:
760fill-column: 79
761End:
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