linux binary versions

[Ben Kochie <ben@nerp.net>]

just to let those who don't know what all this meens:

linux first started with a binary system called a.out.
a.out is also known as libc4.  it is fairly compact, and simple to write static
code for.. it's main dificulty was writing shared libraries.  they were
dificult to write, and had some limitations

then came ELF.. (correct me if i'm wrong.. Extended Library Format)
ELF is also known as libc5.  it fixed many of the shortcomings of libc4, and
added some new features.  shared library support was much easier to do.

then came glibc2 (a form of ELF)  glibc2 is also known as libc6.  it extends
libc5, and adds even more features.. it is also 100% GNU code (i belive libc5
is free, but not fully GPL) glibc2 is also more "portable" it allows for easier
porting to other platforms, like DEC alpha, sparc, powerPC, and others

to make a quick comparison between microsoft, and linux
this is the difference between win16 and win32 apps.. but linux has allways
been 32bit

On 28-Aug-98 Eric Hillman wrote:
> 
>> So using RedHat 5.1 on a Pentium, which of the files do I download? I see
>> three files that could be candidates. They all say Linux:
>>
>> x86 mt
>> x86 non-mt
>> aout x86 non-mt
>>
>> What's the diff?
> 
>       "mt" means "multi-threaded".  If you have a multi-processor machine,
this
> is the one you *must* get.  I use it on my single-CPU machines too, and
> haven't seen any significant difference between it and the non-multithreaded
> version.  On the other hand, I haven't looked too closely.  The main
> difference is that the mt version spawns child processes to help it with key
> crunching, and the non-mt versions do everything with just one process.
>       I'm sure that somebody else can explain better than I can the difference
> between the "a.out" version and the others, but my understanding is that the
> binary for this one is compiled on an older version of C, and is mainly for
> compatibility with older UNIX and Linux kernels.  Again, I don't know if
> there's a significant speed difference, because I can't access the "client
> speeds" pages right now.
> 
>       So, I'd recommend the x86 mt version.  My slowest machine here, a P166,
(I
> think), runs at a pretty consistent 168 kkeys/sec running that version (my
> fastest, a brand-new PII-433 with nothing much else to do right now, clocks
> about 987).
> 
> 
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Thank You,
        Ben Kochie (ben@nerp.net)

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