[linux-help] Re: interchanging executables

[John Reinke <jmreinke@xxxxxxxxx>]

Thanks for the reply. The first two issues had already occured to me, but I
wasn't sure. The person who told me this is normally very trustworthy, so
it certainly surprised me when they said it could be done.

jr

>Even if the processor is the same, there are at least
>three other kinds of compatibility problems which
>can prevent sharing of executables between significantly
>different operating systems like Linux and Windoze.
>
>The system call interface is different.  That is, the list
>of procedures, their parameters, and their functions.
>In Linux and most unix flavors part of this interface
>is called Posix.  In Windoze, it is called Win23.  They
>are very different.
>
>At a lower level, even if you were making an identical
>system call, the mechanism for passing parameters may
>be different.  I don't know specifically if this is true for
>x86 Linux and Win32, but I'd bet on it.
>
>Third, the executable file format is different.  Linux (these
>days, usually) uses one called Elf, whereas Windoze uses
>one called PE.  They're completely different.  The object
>file format is also a part of the executable format too,
>so .o files won't be intechangable either.
>
>The executable format also affects the ability to connect
>to dynamic libraries.  Both executable formats have more
>or less functionally equivalent mechanisms for dynamic
>linking, but incompatible implementations.



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