Subject: acorn32, cats, shark ports switch to ELF
To: None <port-arm@netbsd.org>
From: Jason R Thorpe <thorpej@wasabisystems.com>
List: port-arm
Date: 04/02/2002 08:35:06
The acorn32, cats, and shark ports have now switched to using the
ELF object format.  This means that all NetBSD ports for the ARM
architecture now use ELF.  For general information about why NetBSD
is switching to ELF, please read:

	http://www.netbsd.org/Documentation/elf.html

As part of the transition to ELF, the hw.machine_arch sysctl variable
now contains the value "arm"; the old "arm32" value is deprecated.

A major upshot of the transition is that snapshots and releases (modulo X)
can be entirely cross-build (hopefully on a fast machine) without needing
to be root.  The process is entirely unprivileged.  See the BUILDING file
in the top of the source tree for more information.

ELF snapshots for acorn32, cats, and shark will be available shortly,
along with instructions for transitioning your system from a.out to ELF.

Please watch this space for snapshot announcements.

-- 
        -- Jason R. Thorpe <thorpej@wasabisystems.com>