XPost: uk.comp.os.linux   
   From: invalid@invalid.invalid   
      
   vallor  writes:   
   > dillinger  wrote in :   
   >> could be, but nm follows the link, try file /lib64/ld*   
   >>   
   >> file /lib64/ld*   
   >> /lib64/ld-linux-x86-64.so.2: symbolic link to   
   >> ../lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/ld-linux-x86-64.so.2   
   >   
   > It's not _just_ a library, it's a very special kind -- a runtime linker:   
   >   
   > _[/tmp/try]_(vallor@lm)🐧_   
   > $ touch foo   
   > _[/tmp/try]_(vallor@lm)🐧_   
   > $ /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/ld-linux-x86-64.so.2 /bin/ls   
   > foo   
   > _[/tmp/try]_(vallor@lm)🐧_   
   > $ /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/ld-linux-x86-64.so.2 /bin/ls -l   
   > total 0   
   > -rw-rw-r-- 1 vallor vallor 0 Apr 25 04:40 foo   
   >   
   >  ...know any other (mere) library that does that?   
      
   Indeed. The distinction between a runtime linker (or in ELF spec terms:   
   interpreter) and a library is one of role/function, not of file format,   
   symbol table, etc.   
      
   In terms of this particular thread, the distinction mattered because a   
   missing runtime linker produces different error behavior to a missing   
   library. A missing library would have produced a diagnostic saying which   
   library was missing (and the problem would have been solved a lot   
   faster); a missing runtime linker just results in a bare “No such file   
   or directory”.   
      
   (Analogy: an ambulance has all the properties of a van - wheels, motor,   
   rear doors, tendency to pushy driving styles, etc - but nobody goes   
   round insisting that an ambulance “is a van”.)   
      
   --   
   https://www.greenend.org.uk/rjk/   
      
   --- SoupGate-DOS v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)