MIPS ABI History - Revision history

Ralf: moved MIPSABIHistory to MIPS ABI History: Camel case.

2012-07-18T10:37:11Z

moved MIPSABIHistory to MIPS ABI History: Camel case.

Wbx: fix small typo

2010-04-02T11:35:40Z

fix small typo

Mattst88: add link to n32/n64 documentation

2010-01-07T05:35:12Z

add link to n32/n64 documentation

Mattst88: update broken link to go to archive.org instead

2010-01-07T05:21:45Z

update broken link to go to archive.org instead

Mattst88: add to ABI category so people can actually find this page

2010-01-07T03:20:03Z

add to ABI category so people can actually find this page

Vomlehn: /* Relevance of the MIPS ABI to Linux */

2008-06-06T01:22:59Z

‎Relevance of the MIPS ABI to Linux

Veliath: Added a link to the EABI 32 & 64 ABIs

2007-08-30T06:31:10Z

Added a link to the EABI 32 & 64 ABIs

Veliath: Inserted an "a"

2007-08-30T05:49:49Z

Inserted an "a"

Veliath: Added a link to the o64 ABI

2007-08-30T04:04:19Z

Added a link to the o64 ABI

Ldarby: fixed some grammar

2006-10-30T15:19:17Z

fixed some grammar

@@ Line 19: / Line 19: @@
 == Relevance of the MIPS ABI to Linux ==
-In it's early days when Linux had relativly little software and Linux/MIPS an even smaller one the plan was to be compatible to the MIPS ABI.  In practice this aim would have required numerous changes - how many wasn't obvious at all back in those days, so they never happened.  Also System&nbsp;ABI defines interfaces without mandating if they're implemented in libararies or as syscalls, leaving the syscall interfaces upto the implementors.  In reality this meant some [[RISC/os]] and [[IRIX]] kernel interfaces in a wild blend with the original Linux/i386 syscall interface became the Linux/MIPS syscall interface.
+In it's early days when Linux had relativly little software and Linux/MIPS an even smaller one the plan was to be compatible to the MIPS ABI.  In practice this aim would have required numerous changes - how many wasn't obvious at all back in those days, so they never happened.  Also System&nbsp;ABI defines interfaces without mandating if they're implemented in libraries or as syscalls, leaving the syscall interfaces upto the implementors.  In reality this meant some [[RISC/os]] and [[IRIX]] kernel interfaces in a wild blend with the original Linux/i386 syscall interface became the Linux/MIPS syscall interface.
 Today the MIPS ABI has largely been obsoleted.  The former www.mips-abi.org site has been gone for several years, since all vendors of MIPS System&nbsp;V-based systems have dumped System&nbsp;V in favor of either Linux or Windows&nbsp;NT.  The MIPS ABI heritage of Linux/MIPS is now more of a liability than useful, and occasionally a pain.

@@ Line 26: / Line 26: @@
 == See also ==
-* [http://web.archive.org/web/20060426004350/http://www.caldera.com/developers/devspecs/ SCO Developer Specs]
+* [http://web.archive.org/web/20060426004350/http://www.caldera.com/developers/devspecs/ SCO Developer Specs (o32 ABI)]
 * [http://gcc.gnu.org/projects/mipso64-abi.html GCC's o64 ABI]: an extension by GCC of the o32 ABI to 64-bits
 * [http://www.cygwin.com/ml/binutils/2003-06/msg00436.html EABI]: documentation on the EABI32 and EABI64 ABIs
 [[Category:ABI]]

@@ Line 26: / Line 26: @@
 == See also ==
-* [http://www.caldera.com/developers/devspecs/ SCO Developer Specs]
+* [http://web.archive.org/web/20060426004350/http://www.caldera.com/developers/devspecs/ SCO Developer Specs]
 * [http://gcc.gnu.org/projects/mipso64-abi.html GCC's o64 ABI]: an extension by GCC of the o32 ABI to 64-bits
 * [http://www.cygwin.com/ml/binutils/2003-06/msg00436.html EABI]: documentation on the EABI32 and EABI64 ABIs
 [[Category:ABI]]

← Older revision		Revision as of 03:20, 7 January 2010
Line 29:		Line 29:
	* [http://gcc.gnu.org/projects/mipso64-abi.html GCC's o64 ABI]: an extension by GCC of the o32 ABI to 64-bits		* [http://gcc.gnu.org/projects/mipso64-abi.html GCC's o64 ABI]: an extension by GCC of the o32 ABI to 64-bits
	* [http://www.cygwin.com/ml/binutils/2003-06/msg00436.html EABI]: documentation on the EABI32 and EABI64 ABIs		* [http://www.cygwin.com/ml/binutils/2003-06/msg00436.html EABI]: documentation on the EABI32 and EABI64 ABIs
		+
		+	[[Category:ABI]]

@@ Line 23: / Line 23: @@
 Today the MIPS ABI has largely been obsoleted.  The former www.mips-abi.org site has been gone for several years, since all vendors of MIPS System&nbsp;V-based systems have dumped System&nbsp;V in favor of either Linux or Windows&nbsp;NT.  The MIPS ABI heritage of Linux/MIPS is now more of a liability than useful, and occasionally a pain.
-At the bottom line the only relevant part that is left is the ''Tool Interface Standard'' [[ELF|Executable and Linking Format (ELF) Specification]] dated back to May [[1995]].  Since them the ELF format has been enhanced in many ways by the developers of GNU [[binutils]] and [[libc]].
+At the bottom line the only relevant parts that are left are the ''Tool Interface Standard'' [[ELF|Executable and Linking Format (ELF) Specification]], dated May [[1995]], and portions of the ''[http://math-atlas.sourceforge.net/devel/assembly/mipsabi32.pdf System V Application Binary Interface: MIPS(r) Processor Supplement, 3rd Edition]'', dated February [[1996]].  The most useful parts of this second document are the "Machine Interface" and "Function Calling Interface" sections, though portions of other sections are still relevant. Since those documents were created the ELF format has been enhanced in many ways by the developers of GNU [[binutils]] and [[libc]].
 == See also ==

← Older revision		Revision as of 06:31, 30 August 2007
Line 28:		Line 28:
	* [http://www.caldera.com/developers/devspecs/ SCO Developer Specs]		* [http://www.caldera.com/developers/devspecs/ SCO Developer Specs]
	* [http://gcc.gnu.org/projects/mipso64-abi.html GCC's o64 ABI]: an extension by GCC of the o32 ABI to 64-bits		* [http://gcc.gnu.org/projects/mipso64-abi.html GCC's o64 ABI]: an extension by GCC of the o32 ABI to 64-bits
		+	* [http://www.cygwin.com/ml/binutils/2003-06/msg00436.html EABI]: documentation on the EABI32 and EABI64 ABIs

@@ Line 16: / Line 16: @@
 Meanwhile, the perceived deficiencies of o32 have led to the proliferation of variants and more narrowly-focussed alternatives, to the point where there are now as many as 15 incompatible MIPS ABIs.
 It may yet prove the least worst decision for us all to continue to use o32 ''forever'': but escaping from o32 could
-noticeably improve performance and ease various kinds of compatibility. So MIPS Technologies' has proposal called [[NUBI]] to do this: but it won't make sense unless we can take the community with us and end up with fewer ABIs - not just another family to add to the overlong list.
+noticeably improve performance and ease various kinds of compatibility. So MIPS Technologies' has a proposal called [[NUBI]] to do this: but it won't make sense unless we can take the community with us and end up with fewer ABIs - not just another family to add to the overlong list.
 == Relevance of the MIPS ABI to Linux ==

← Older revision		Revision as of 04:04, 30 August 2007
Line 27:		Line 27:
	== See also ==		== See also ==
	* [http://www.caldera.com/developers/devspecs/ SCO Developer Specs]		* [http://www.caldera.com/developers/devspecs/ SCO Developer Specs]
		+	* [http://gcc.gnu.org/projects/mipso64-abi.html GCC's o64 ABI]: an extension by GCC of the o32 ABI to 64-bits