calculus of PT_NOTE "for GNU/Linux 2.6.32"

[Stephen John Smoogen]

On Mon, Sep 20, 2010 at 12:41, John Reiser <jreiser at bitwagon.com> wrote:
> Executable program files built by gcc+glibc on Fedora 14 contain a PT_NOTE
> which says "for GNU/Linux 2.6.32".  (For example, see "file /bin/date";
> the presence of a NOTE is indicated by "readelf --segments /bin/date",
> but readelf does not display the contents.)  What does the PT_NOTE mean;
> what program cares about this value?
>
> The /bin/date of Fedora 14 does run on Fedora 11 which is only Linux 2.6.30.
> So there is no harm in this case, despite "not meeting the requirement."  Why?
> If the requirement really is something less than Linux 2.6.32,
> then why not note the minimum kernel version that is required?
> How far back on previous Fedora releases can the /bin/date (and/or anything
> else built by gcc+glibc on Fedora 14) run successfully?  What does this mean
> for builders who want to build on Fedora 14 and distribute the binary
> executable program files to run on other systems?

Here is a limited matrix for what glibc was with which kernel. Stuff
compiled with 14/Rawhide looks like it is compiled with upcoming
2.13...

I would think that items compiled in 12 and 13 would work well
together but 14 items on 12/13 may have issues. Items before 12 even
more so.

Fedora OS Version 	Release Name  	Date of Release  	# of .src.rpms
	kernel  	glibc  	gcc  	X
01 	Yarrow 	2003-11-05 	876 	2.4.22-nptl 	2.3.2 	3.3.2 	XFree86 4.3.0
02 	Tettnang 	2004-05-18 	946 	2.6.5 (2.6.10) 	2.3.3 	3.3.3 	x.org 6.7.0
03 	Heidelberg 	2004-11-08 	2079 	2.6.9 (2.6.12) 	2.3.3 (2.3.4) 	3.4.2
(3.4.4) 	6.8.1 (6.8.2)
04 	Stentz 	2005-06-13 	2753 	2.6.11 (2.6.17) 	2.3.5 (2.3.6) 	4.0.0
(4.0.2) 	6.8.2
05 	Bordeaux 	2006-03-20 	3137 	2.6.15 (2.6.20) 	2.4 	4.1.0 (4.1.1)
	server 1.0.1
06 	Zod 	2006-10-24 	3681 	2.6.18 (2.6.22.14) 	2.5 	4.1.1 (4.1.2) 	1.1.1
07 	Moonshine 	2007-05-31 	5189 	2.6.21 (2.6.23.17) 	2.6 	4.1.2 	1.3.0.0
08 	Werewolf 	2007-11-08 	6042 	2.6.23.1 (2.6.26.8) 	2.7 	4.1.2 	1.3.0.0
09 	Sulphur 	2008-05-13 	7085 	2.6.25 (2.6.27.25) 	2.8 	4.3.0
	1.4.99.901 (1.5.2)
10 	Cambridge 	2008-11-25 	8103 	2.6.27.5 (2.6.27.41) 	2.9 	4.3.2 	1.5.3
11 	Leonidas 	2009-06-09 	8935 	2.6.29.4 (2.6.30.10) 	2.10.1 (2.10.2)
	4.4.0 (4.4.1) 	1.6.1.901 (1.6.4)
12 	Constantine 	2009-11-17 	9428 	2.6.31.5 (2.6.32.21) 	2.11 (2.11.2)
	4.4.2 (4.4.4) 	1.7.1 (1.7.6)
13 	Goddard 	2010-05-25 	9555 	2.6.33.3 (2.6.34.6) 	2.12 	4.4.4 	1.8.0 (1.8.2)
14 	Laughlin 	(2010-09-14) 	9644 	2.6.35.4 	2.12.90 	4.5.1 	1.8.99.905 ()
Rawhide 	Rawhide 	(2010-09-14) 	9701 	2.6.36 	2.12.90 	4.5.1 	7.6




-- 
Stephen J Smoogen.
“The core skill of innovators is error recovery, not failure avoidance.”
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