Date: Sun, 9 Nov 1997 14:25:26 +0000 From: njs3@doc.ic.ac.uk (Niall Smart) To: Warner Losh <imp@village.org>, njs3@doc.ic.ac.uk (Niall Smart) Cc: hackers@freebsd.org Subject: Re: a.out format Message-ID: <E0xUYIo-0000rQ-00@oak68.doc.ic.ac.uk> In-Reply-To: Warner Losh <imp@village.org> "Re: a.out format" (Nov 8, 6:07pm)
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On Nov 8, 6:07pm, Warner Losh wrote: } Subject: Re: a.out format > In message <E0xUJmp-0000Y7-00@oak65.doc.ic.ac.uk> Niall Smart writes: > : Don't suppose anyone knows how the "a.out" format got its name? > > "ld foo.o" used to produce (and still does) a file called a.out by > default. It used to be the only format. Now, that there are others, > you gotta call it something :-). > > Where the name a.out came from is generally believed to be short for > "assembler output" but there has been some other rumors I've heard > over the years. Kinda like .bss (which is supposedly from an old IBM > op code for Blank Storage Section, which was all zeros, but I'm > digressing). Ah, I've also heard Block Started by Symbol, but I prefer Blank Storage Section. Niall
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