Re: [PATCH] ld: Unify the directory separator on Windows.
Project / Subsystem
binutils / ld
Date
2026-07-27
Proposer
Jan Beulich <jbeulich@suse.com>
Source type
public_inbox
Consensus
Proposed
Sentiment
—/10
Technical tradeoffs
- • Simplifies path handling on Windows by enforcing a single separator style.
- • Prevents potential errors caused by mixed or incorrect directory separators.
- • The primary tradeoff is determining if the change is strictly necessary given existing behavior or Windows API tolerance.
All attributes
- project
- binutils
- subsystem
- ld
- patch_id
- —
- discussion_id
- 6e4578f2-06bc-487b-b4db-291d8cc2e12e@suse.com
- source_type
- public_inbox
- title
- Re: [PATCH] ld: Unify the directory separator on Windows.
- headline
- ld: Unify the directory separator on Windows.
- tldr
- Discussion on whether `ld` consistently uses forward slashes on Windows; current patch aims to unify directory separators.
- proposer
- Jan Beulich <jbeulich@suse.com>
- consensus
- Proposed
- outcome
- proposed
- sentiment_score
- —
- technical_tradeoffs
-
- • Simplifies path handling on Windows by enforcing a single separator style.
- • Prevents potential errors caused by mixed or incorrect directory separators.
- • The primary tradeoff is determining if the change is strictly necessary given existing behavior or Windows API tolerance.
- series_id
- —
- series_role
- reply
- series_parts
- []
- tags
-
- • ld
- • linker
- • windows
- • paths
- • normalization
- bugzilla_url
- —
- date
- 2026-07-27T00:00:00.000Z
Re: [PATCH] ld: Unify the directory separator on Windows.
This discussion revolves around a patch intended to unify directory separators on Windows, resolving issues where ld might produce paths with mixed forward and backslashes (e.g., D:/path\to/file). Jan Beulich questions the claim that ld has long used forward slashes, requesting evidence. The author argues that the absence of regressions and the logical inconsistency of mixed separators suffice as evidence, especially given that other parts of the toolchain might handle this. The core of the patch is to ensure ld consistently uses one type of separator.