From: Chris Matrakidis <cmatraki AT eleceng DOT ucl DOT ac DOT uk>
Date: Thu, 8 May 97 15:42:39 BST
Message-Id: <707.9705081442@baldrick>
To: grendel AT hoth DOT amu DOT edu DOT pl
Subject: Re: PE executable format
Cc: djgpp-workers AT delorie DOT com, djgpp AT delorie DOT com
Precedence: bulk

> For PE we'd have to write code to output M$ COFF format, a linker for it and
> a loader.

As of binutils 2.7 the PE format is supported in the standard distribution.
And now binutils 2.8 are out, where this support should be more stable.

> With ELF we'd only have to add a new target to DJGPP and write a loader.
> Adding new target is just a matter of enabling the new format support in BFD
> and recompiling the compiler.

I agree that ELF support is easy as a target for the linker. However, the
support that is necessary in the library and the djgpp utilities (like symify)
is harder.

My point was that in the MSDOS/Windows world there are many tools that support
PE executables. Compatibility with them can only benefit DJGPP.