2 ms·
Are you aware that the original binary format of Linux was not ELF? Then, the last time I tried to run a binary from the 90s, it required libc5, from the days
by asveikau 6y ago
Are you aware that the original binary format of Linux was not ELF?
Then, the last time I tried to run a binary from the 90s, it required libc5, from the days before distros switched to glibc.
- msla 6y ago> Are you aware that the original binary format of Linux was not ELF? Yes, and having an a.out interpreter is just another dependency. > Then, the last time I tried to run a binary from the 90s, it required libc5, from the days before distros switched to glibc. It's a library. libc is versioned like everything else.
- asveikau 6y agoNobody is distributing that library anymore. Whereas an equivalently aged binary on Windows will load today without extra dependencies. I would think that the kernel would have dropped binfmt_aout by now, but I just looked and it's still there. Wonder if any distros build it.
- chungy 6y ago> Nobody is distributing that library anymore. There exist plenty of archives of old Linux distributions. "Nobody" turns out to be quite a lot of people/servers. > Whereas an equivalently aged binary on Windows will load today without extra dependencies. I wouldn't go so far. The 64-bit port of Windows dropped support for all 16-bit applications, whereas they still run flawlessly through Wine.