On Sat, 4 Sep 1999, Charles M. Hannum wrote:

> 
> This actually has nothing to do with a.out vs. ELF.  It has to do with
> the `new' malloc(3).

i see. i forgot about the `new' malloc import and remembered file(1)
being much faster on a.out system. your results tell the whole story. 

btw
there used to be on BSDI site ELF FAQ with ` a.out speed vs. ELF speed'

>  I tested 3 versions of file(1):
> 
> 1) the current version in CVS, with a recent libc, compiled on ELF:
> 
>         0.59 real         0.32 user         0.14 sys
> 
> 2) same, but modified so that maxmagic is strictly a power of 2
>    (slightly different than your patch):
> 
>         0.15 real         0.05 user         0.04 sys
> 
> 3) the unedited version, but with the old BSD malloc(3):
> 
>         0.15 real         0.06 user         0.05 sys
> 
> Draw your own conclusions.
> 
>