2 bool "Kernel support for ELF binaries"
6 ELF (Executable and Linkable Format) is a format for libraries and
7 executables used across different architectures and operating
8 systems. Saying Y here will enable your kernel to run ELF binaries
9 and enlarge it by about 13 KB. ELF support under Linux has now all
10 but replaced the traditional Linux a.out formats (QMAGIC and ZMAGIC)
11 because it is portable (this does *not* mean that you will be able
12 to run executables from different architectures or operating systems
13 however) and makes building run-time libraries very easy. Many new
14 executables are distributed solely in ELF format. You definitely
17 Information about ELF is contained in the ELF HOWTO available from
18 <http://www.tldp.org/docs.html#howto>.
20 If you find that after upgrading from Linux kernel 1.2 and saying Y
21 here, you still can't run any ELF binaries (they just crash), then
22 you'll have to install the newest ELF runtime libraries, including
23 ld.so (check the file <file:Documentation/Changes> for location and
27 bool "Moxa software lock support for ELF format"
30 Support Moxa software lock funcation.
33 tristate "Kernel support for flat binaries"
34 depends on !MMU || SUPERH
36 Support uClinux FLAT format binaries.
39 bool "Enable ZFLAT support"
40 depends on BINFMT_FLAT
43 Support FLAT format compressed binaries
45 config BINFMT_SHARED_FLAT
46 bool "Enable shared FLAT support"
47 depends on BINFMT_FLAT
49 Support FLAT shared libraries
52 tristate "Kernel support for a.out and ECOFF binaries"
53 depends on (X86 && !X86_64) || ALPHA || ARM || M68K || SPARC32
55 A.out (Assembler.OUTput) is a set of formats for libraries and
56 executables used in the earliest versions of UNIX. Linux used
57 the a.out formats QMAGIC and ZMAGIC until they were replaced
60 The conversion to ELF started in 1995. This option is primarily
61 provided for historical interest and for the benefit of those
62 who need to run binaries from that era.
64 Most people should answer N here. If you think you may have
65 occasional use for this format, enable module support above
66 and answer M here to compile this support as a module called
69 If any crucial components of your system (such as /sbin/init
70 or /lib/ld.so) are still in a.out format, you will have to
74 bool "OSF/1 v4 readv/writev compatibility"
75 depends on ALPHA && BINFMT_AOUT
77 Say Y if you are using OSF/1 binaries (like Netscape and Acrobat)
78 with v4 shared libraries freely available from Compaq. If you're
79 going to use shared libraries from Tru64 version 5.0 or later, say N.
82 tristate "Kernel support for Linux/Intel ELF binaries"
85 Say Y here if you want to be able to execute Linux/Intel ELF
86 binaries just like native Alpha binaries on your Alpha machine. For
87 this to work, you need to have the emulator /usr/bin/em86 in place.
89 You can get the same functionality by saying N here and saying Y to
90 "Kernel support for MISC binaries".
92 You may answer M to compile the emulation support as a module and
93 later load the module when you want to use a Linux/Intel binary. The
94 module will be called binfmt_em86. If unsure, say Y.
97 tristate "Kernel support for SOM binaries"
98 depends on PARISC && HPUX
100 SOM is a binary executable format inherited from HP/UX. Say
101 Y here to be able to load and execute SOM binaries directly.
104 tristate "Kernel support for MISC binaries"
106 If you say Y here, it will be possible to plug wrapper-driven binary
107 formats into the kernel. You will like this especially when you use
108 programs that need an interpreter to run like Java, Python, .NET or
109 Emacs-Lisp. It's also useful if you often run DOS executables under
110 the Linux DOS emulator DOSEMU (read the DOSEMU-HOWTO, available from
111 <http://www.tldp.org/docs.html#howto>). Once you have
112 registered such a binary class with the kernel, you can start one of
113 those programs simply by typing in its name at a shell prompt; Linux
114 will automatically feed it to the correct interpreter.
116 You can do other nice things, too. Read the file
117 <file:Documentation/binfmt_misc.txt> to learn how to use this
118 feature, <file:Documentation/java.txt> for information about how
119 to include Java support. and <file:Documentation/mono.txt> for
120 information about how to include Mono-based .NET support.
122 To use binfmt_misc, you will need to mount it:
123 mount binfmt_misc -t binfmt_misc /proc/sys/fs/binfmt_misc
125 You may say M here for module support and later load the module when
126 you have use for it; the module is called binfmt_misc. If you
127 don't know what to answer at this point, say Y.