[openbeos] PE vs ELF file-format

Hi @ all!

Do anybody know which are the (dis)advantages of PE-files and the (dis)advantages of ELF-files?
And is it possible, that OBOS support both?

All ppc-BeOS-Versions used a PE-compiler and can only run PE-files.
All x86-BeOS-Versions <= 3.x used a PE-compiler, too. And the system can only run PE-files, too.
Since BeOS 4.x on x86-computers the compiler have benn changed to the GNU-Compiler GCC. And since this time, the standard-compiler of BeOS on x86 creates ELF-files. And the OS can only run ELF-files (programs compiled for x86-BeOS 3.x no longer run since this time).

And OBOS plan now to change completely to the GCC and the ELF-file. For x86, ppc and the other hardware-platforms.

But is it possible to support both?
Is it possible, to change the GCC so, that it creates PE-files? And that the system can run PE- and ELF-files?
On older Linux-systems it was possible to run ELF- and a.out-files. And I think NetBSD runs a lot of different file-formats, too.

And what are the advantiges and disadvantiges of the PE/ELF-file format?
ELF must have a lot of advantages. Because GCC used this format. If the format would be bad, I think, they have changed it.
And the PE-format must have its own advantages, too. The compiler-creater of the old BeOS-C++-compiler and the ppc-BeOS-Compiler, still sell compiler for the ppc-platform (for MacOS X for example) and other platforms.
And the PE-format is used in the EXE-files for Windows.



So, my two questions again:

Which are the advantiges/disadvanteges of which format and is it possible, that OBOS support both formats?


Greatings
TheUserBL

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