From: "deckerben" <bdeck AT lycos DOT co DOT uk>
Newsgroups: comp.os.msdos.djgpp
References: <3dde675f$0$29802$9b622d9e AT news DOT freenet DOT de> <200211221954 DOT gAMJsqm17743 AT envy DOT delorie DOT com> <3dded421$0$21171$9b622d9e AT news DOT freenet DOT de> <200211230138 DOT gAN1cur21059 AT envy DOT delorie DOT com> <3ddf3e97$0$29791$9b622d9e AT news DOT freenet DOT de> <200211231403 DOT gANE3fg28636 AT envy DOT delorie DOT com> <3de640b6$0$8306$9b622d9e AT news DOT freenet DOT de> <200211281644 DOT gASGi0j07750 AT envy DOT delorie DOT com>
Subject: Re: a.out.h
Date: Thu, 28 Nov 2002 22:52:33 +0100
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To: djgpp AT delorie DOT com
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Reply-To: djgpp AT delorie DOT com

> *Every* unix compiler's default output executable is a.out.  Even
> Linux/ELF systems default to a.out.  It has nothing to do with the
> file format, it's just a standard output name.  The fact that it
> matches the name of an ancient file format is due to ancient history,
> not current issues.

> V1.09d was a patched version of 1.09, supported DPMI (Windows 3.1, OS/2,
> etc), but the a.out format required lots of wasted memory.  The smallest
> images took a minimum of 5Mb of memory (each) to run.

> "a.out" is also used as the name of the _file_format_ of that file on
> the original Unix systems, but DJGPP does not follow that line (nor
> does hardly anything else, these days) Only systems using that file
> format would really be callable "a.out systems", so DJGPP isn't one.


WOW! Thanks guys! 'I do humble myself and repent, in sackcloth and ashes."
(Always nice to know somebody around here knows something :-)))

yours,
Ben