Darn it!  I sent this to an individual instead of the list again. 
Sorry.



> In any case, NetBSD _already_ supports Elf quite well - it's the
> executable format used by the MIPS, Alpha, and PowerPC.
> 

     I've wondered about this for years....  What exactly *IS* Elf and
a.out?

     I know that when I compile something with gcc the executable's name is
a.out, but that is about all that I know.  I'm starting to get an
impression that they're methods of storing instructions in a binary file,
but its not clear to me what factors (CPU design, OS design, etc.) are
involved in this, where the different formats came from, how many there
are, or what the advantages and disadvantages of each are.

                                                      TIA,
                                                      Jaime