Re: the "load" command and the .bss section

[Eli Zaretskii <eliz at gnu dot org>]

> From: Mike Frysinger <vapier@gentoo.org>
> Date: Sun, 27 Apr 2008 23:31:20 -0400
> Cc: drow@false.org,
>  gdb-patches@sourceware.org
> 
> the load description in general implies the reader already has higher
> knowledge of these details.  i dont see the changes i propose affecting this
> in any way.  i'm not sure expounding on the lower (and format-specific)
> details being appropriate in this context as the final decision is up to the
> target bfd, not gdb.

Sorry, I didn't mean for you to explain any format-specific details,
certainly not at the BFD level.  Just general principles, which I
think are common to all formats.  If some important details are
inherently specific to the binary format, describing what happens with
the most popular one, or using "e.g.", would be good enough.

> if someone else wants to expand the description, go for it, but i'm fine with
> the small additions i've contributed, and i think the issues raised here are
> unrelated to the new text.

But the addition to the manual will only be useful to someone other
than yourself, because you already learned this the hard way.  So the
fact that these additions are good enough for you does not mean they
are a useful addition to the manual; for that, the additions need to
be explanatory enough to allow others learn from your experience
rather than from their own.

Now, I know something about loading programs, so if the changes you
propose are not clear for me, chances are they won't be clear enough
for other readers of the manual as well.

In my experience, the best candidate to write about a certain issue is
someone who couldn't find that in the manual, learned about it the
hard way, and can tell others what they need to know.  That is because
that someone knows, in 20-20 hindsight, what she would like to be in
the manual in the first place.

So I urge you to try to describe this in some more detail, for the
benefit of others who will go in your footsteps.  Thanks in advance.