libstdc++ - SystemV vs Gnu/Linux ABI

[Mathias Winkel]

Dear all,

for quite a while I have been using a self-built GCC (version 4.8.1 and 
4.9/svn-trunk) on a Blue Gene/Q (PowerPC) machine.
After I updated my compiler this week, I could not execute produced 
statically linked binaries any more.
The difference between executables compiled with the old and the new 
compiler is apparently the ABI:

$ file a.out-gcc4.9
a.out-gcc4.9: ELF 64-bit MSB executable, 64-bit PowerPC or cisco 7500, 
version 1 (*GNU/Linux*), statically linked, for GNU/Linux 2.4.21, not 
stripped

$ file a.out-gcc4.8.1
a.out-gcc4.8.1: ELF 64-bit MSB executable, 64-bit PowerPC or cisco 7500, 
version 1 (*SYSV*), statically linked, for GNU/Linux 2.4.21, not stripped

I narrowed the difference between both compiler versions down to the 
libstdc++:

$ ar -x /bgsys/local/gcc/4.9/powerpc64-bgq-linux/lib64/libstdc++.a
$ file *.o | grep "(GNU/Linux)"
bitmap_allocator.o:           ELF 64-bit MSB relocatable, 64-bit PowerPC 
or cisco 7500, version 1 (GNU/Linux), not stripped
compatibility-ldbl.o:         ELF 64-bit MSB relocatable, 64-bit PowerPC 
or cisco 7500, version 1 (GNU/Linux), not stripped
ext-inst.o:                   ELF 64-bit MSB relocatable, 64-bit PowerPC 
or cisco 7500, version 1 (GNU/Linux), not stripped
locale-inst.o:                ELF 64-bit MSB relocatable, 64-bit PowerPC 
or cisco 7500, version 1 (GNU/Linux), not stripped
mt_allocator.o:               ELF 64-bit MSB relocatable, 64-bit PowerPC 
or cisco 7500, version 1 (GNU/Linux), not stripped
pool_allocator.o:             ELF 64-bit MSB relocatable, 64-bit PowerPC 
or cisco 7500, version 1 (GNU/Linux), not stripped
random.o:                     ELF 64-bit MSB relocatable, 64-bit PowerPC 
or cisco 7500, version 1 (GNU/Linux), not stripped
string-inst.o:                ELF 64-bit MSB relocatable, 64-bit PowerPC 
or cisco 7500, version 1 (GNU/Linux), not stripped
wlocale-inst.o:               ELF 64-bit MSB relocatable, 64-bit PowerPC 
or cisco 7500, version 1 (GNU/Linux), not stripped
wstring-inst.o:               ELF 64-bit MSB relocatable, 64-bit PowerPC 
or cisco 7500, version 1 (GNU/Linux), not stripped

$ ar -x /bgsys/local/gcc/4.8.1/powerpc64-bgq-linux/lib64/libstdc++.a
$ file bitmap_allocator.o compatibility-ldbl.o ext-inst.o locale-inst.o 
mt_allocator.o pool_allocator.o random.o string-inst.o wlocale-inst.o 
wstring-inst.o
bitmap_allocator.o:   ELF 64-bit MSB relocatable, 64-bit PowerPC or 
cisco 7500, version 1 (SYSV), not stripped
compatibility-ldbl.o: ELF 64-bit MSB relocatable, 64-bit PowerPC or 
cisco 7500, version 1 (SYSV), not stripped
ext-inst.o:           ELF 64-bit MSB relocatable, 64-bit PowerPC or 
cisco 7500, version 1 (SYSV), not stripped
locale-inst.o:        ELF 64-bit MSB relocatable, 64-bit PowerPC or 
cisco 7500, version 1 (SYSV), not stripped
mt_allocator.o:       ELF 64-bit MSB relocatable, 64-bit PowerPC or 
cisco 7500, version 1 (SYSV), not stripped
pool_allocator.o:     ELF 64-bit MSB relocatable, 64-bit PowerPC or 
cisco 7500, version 1 (SYSV), not stripped
random.o:             ELF 64-bit MSB relocatable, 64-bit PowerPC or 
cisco 7500, version 1 (SYSV), not stripped
string-inst.o:        ELF 64-bit MSB relocatable, 64-bit PowerPC or 
cisco 7500, version 1 (SYSV), not stripped
wlocale-inst.o:       ELF 64-bit MSB relocatable, 64-bit PowerPC or 
cisco 7500, version 1 (SYSV), not stripped
wstring-inst.o:       ELF 64-bit MSB relocatable, 64-bit PowerPC or 
cisco 7500, version 1 (SYSV), not stripped

As far as I understood (please correct me if I am wrong), the 
"(GNU/Linux)" calling convention is being propagated into the final 
executable.
A previous Version of gcc-4.9 (built approximately araound Christmas 
2013) did not show the problem.

Now: Why does this happen and how can I prevent this behaviour?

In case you need any further information I will be happy to provide them.

Thank you :-)

Mathias