Re: Recent removal of a.out and COFF support for sparc

[Maciej W. Rozycki]

On Wed, 8 Aug 2018, Alan Modra wrote:

> >  I don't like things being put that way and I find it against the spirit 
> > of free software and its mission to deliver superior solutions that do not 
> > put unnecessary limits upon users.  If people have a need for a feature, 
> > then I think it is the wrong thing to refuse it from the position of 
> > authority given that code for that exists.
> 
> I'm grumpy, but the advice about using older binutils for unmaintained
> ports is good.  I'm also not against reinstating sparc-aout if
> someone maintains it, but doubt there is anyone wanting to do the
> work.

 Maybe there isn't, maybe there is, but I think we need to be explicit on 
what the conditions are, because people may not be aware of them.  Then it 
is up to whoever wants the feature to determine if they can do something 
to keep it in master or whether the only feasible solution is sticking to 
an older version.

> "git log bfd/aoutx.h" if you want an illustration of points I make in
> my other reply on this thread.

 Exactly why I pointed out the need to have an offer to maintain the code 
as a condition.

  Maciej