coff vs elf on i386

[joel at OARcorp.com (joel at OARcorp.com)]

Hi,

I am trying to tidy up loose ends for a new snapshot.  The tool transition
to ELF has left me with a problem on the i386.  The i386 BSP specs needs
to reference crt[in].o with ELF to make C++ work.  These files are not
generated by the COFF configuration of the tools.  

Ralf has mentioned using a BSP specific configure script for this. The
bsp_specs file is "preinstalled" from c/src/lib/libbsp/Makefile.in so we
would have to either redo this scheme or write a configure script that
detected the target was ix86-*-rtems* and that it could be ELF.  Then you
probably end up with 2 bsp_specs in the i386 tree.  

I am about to the point where I just switch i386-rtems to ELF, rename the
current i386-rtems to i386-rtemscoff, put an entry in the FAQ that COFF 
has been obsoleted for the i386 and move forward.  

Is this worth investing effort in?

--joel
Joel Sherrill, Ph.D.             Director of Research & Development
joel at OARcorp.com                 On-Line Applications Research
Ask me about RTEMS: a free RTOS  Huntsville AL 35805
   Support Available             (256) 722-9985