Path: utzoo!utgpu!watmath!uunet!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!bloom-beacon!apple!vsi1!daver!lynx!m5
From: m5@lynx.uucp (Mike McNally)
Newsgroups: gnu.utils.bug
Subject: Re: (none)
Message-ID: <5404@lynx.UUCP>
Date: 5 Apr 89 15:14:30 GMT
References: <8904040510.AA15711@thor.acc.stolaf.edu>
Reply-To: m5@lynx.UUCP (Mike McNally)
Distribution: gnu
Organization: Lynx Real-Time Systems Inc, Campbell CA
Lines: 21

In article <8904040510.AA15711@thor.acc.stolaf.edu> mike@THOR.STOLAF.EDU (Mike Haertel) writes:
>In the various binutil programs, reading just an int from the
>beginning of a file to get its magic number is idiotic.  What
>if the magic number isn't an int, or isn't right at the beginning?
>If the programs were properly written they would read a struct exec,
>rather than making a kludgy assumption about its internal format.

I agree.  Along similar lines, I was horrified to learn while hacking
"strip" that its error-checking malloc interface returned an int!  I
mean, dang!  Also, from what I've seen, porting a lot of these things
to a 16-bit int environment would be almost a lost cause (though probably
possible for the dedicated).

Then again, it is free.


-- 
Mike McNally                                    Lynx Real-Time Systems
uucp: {voder,athsys}!lynx!m5                    phone: 408 370 2233

            Where equal mind and contest equal, go.