[sylware]

linux ELF code is loading the ELF loader only. $ORIGIN may not be a good idea since that would add more ELF complexity to the kernel.

If we are honest with ourself, ELF is the core of the issue: for executables and dynamic libraries we _now_ know it is severely obsolete on modern hardware architectures.

I am currently using my own format, excrutiatingly simple, no loader, basically a program segment, "userland syscalls" with hardware CPU synchronization. I do wrap the executables into ELF capsules to run them transparently. So simple a small RFC will be enough.

With that, I discovered that the hard part is c++ and other similar languages which are very expensive in runtime infrastructure and linking complexity. I would need to build a mesa vulkan driver with that format, and it seems the blocker is c++ (and similar language namely with grotesque and absurd syntax complexity). Thx to valve to have removed a lot of c++, for less c++... would have been much better if plain and simple C.

[setheron]

I would love to learn more about this; I'm deeply interested in replacing ELF with something either simpler or maybe leveraging sqlite for much of the functionality.

[setheron]

Feel free to email me! (author)

[sylware]

Once I have something satisfying, I'll post the "RFC-like" draft and preliminary reference toolchain on HN (well, if I can since HN is going 'whatwg cartel' web engines only then I may be blocked for good). For the moment, I am 'testing' all that while writting my own wayland compositor for linux (that's why I will try to build mesa AMD vulkan driver for this format... or stick to wl_shm in the end).

Well, for a new executable and dynamic library format, the computer language syntax complexity and its runtime complexity do matter A LOT, c++ is massive pain, and since, if I am not mistaken, sqlite is going microsoft rust, that's bad omens since microsoft rust syntax seems to be now as brain damaged than c++ syntax... but with an even worse runtime (unless all that is not actually true, I have not checked). That said, ISO f*cked up C with things like '__thread' which requires some level of OS support.