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Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!cbosgd!ihnp4!qantel!lll-crg!seismo!mcvax!ukc!icdoc!ist!istbt!rb
From: rb@istbt.UUCP (Bob Bishop)
Newsgroups: net.unix-wizards
Subject: Re: magic numbers? (teach me, please)
Message-ID: <54@istbt.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 29-Nov-85 12:33:24 EST
Article-I.D.: istbt.54
Posted: Fri Nov 29 12:33:24 1985
Date-Received: Mon, 2-Dec-85 03:12:40 EST
References: <124@rexago1.UUCP> <416@ihdev.UUCP>
Distribution: net
Organization: Imperial Software Technology, London, England
Lines: 20
Xpath: icdoc ivax

In article <416@ihdev.UUCP>, pdg@ihdev.UUCP (P. D. Guthrie)
writes:

>       Forgive me if this is
>       wrong, but I do not have any method of checking, but
>       the magic numbers for say plain executable 4.x Vax and
>       plain executable SysV.x Vax are the same, but SysV.x
>       Vax and SysV.x 3B20 are different.  Could someone
>       comfirm this?

This is true, BUT it doesn't mean you can execute BSD binaries
on a SysV VAX (nor, presumably, vice versa). The file formats
are actually different. Running a BSD binary on a SysV VAX
results in behavior almost, but not entirely, unlike what the
programmer intended.

-- 
Bob Bishop

"What's so unpleasant about being drunk? You ask a glass of water!"