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Date: Wed, 16 Jan 2002 12:23:13 -0800
From: "H. Peter Anvin" <hpa@zytor.com>
Organization: Zytor Communications
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To: andersen@codepoet.org
CC: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org
Subject: Re: Query about initramfs and modules
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Erik Andersen wrote:

>>>
>>Yeah!  Let's put all this crap in KERNEL SPACE!  *NOT!*
>>
> 
> Good point.  We surely wouldn't want to have an ELF interpreter
> in kernel space.  That would be evil!  
> 	rm linux/fs/binfmt_elf.c
> There, thats better, now userspace can load everything.  If we
> can figure out how to get userspace loaded....
> 
> The kernel already knows how to load ELF files, and _has_ to do
> that job to get userspace running anyways.   So why not use that
> mechanism for modules?
> 


Because it's not the same mechanism at all.  insmod is an ELF *LINKER*,
not just a loader for executable-format ELF files.  There is a huge
difference between a linkable and an executable ELF file; a module is the
former, a binary executable is the latter.

	-hpa


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