PIC is wasteful

[Agner Fog]

On 24-06-2011 12:38, Andrew Haley wrote:
> On 06/24/2011 11:19 AM, Agner Fog wrote:
>> On 24-06-2011 10:23, Andrew Haley wrote:
>>>
>>>> Why does it make 32 bit absolute addresses when I specify
>>>> -mcmodel=medium?
>>> Small symbols are placed in the lower 2G.
>> So I would have to replace all variables with very big arrays in order
>> to prevent 32 bit addresses in 64 bit mode :-(
> What problem are you trying to solve?  I don't get it.  Why would you
> want to avoid 32-bit absolute addresses?
>
Because the linker complains whenever there is a 32 bit absolute 
reference in a 64 bit shared object. I guess the .so can be loaded above 
the 2G address limit.

Apparently, the only way to avoid 32 bit addresses is compiling with 
-fpic, which has the undesired effect of using GOT and PLT entries which 
makes shared objects slower than static libraries. The seldom used 
feature to override a symbol comes at a high price.