[llvm-dev] GC for defsym'd symbols in LLD

[Shoaib Meenai via llvm-dev]

LLD treats any symbol referenced from a linker script as a GC root, which makes sense. Unfortunately, it also processes --defsym as a linker script fragment internally, so all target symbols of a --defsym also get treated as GC roots (i.e., if you have something like --defsym SRC=TGT, TGT will become a GC root). I believe this to be unnecessary for defsym specifically, since you're just aliasing a symbol, and if the original or aliased symbols are referenced from anywhere, the symbol's section will get preserved anyway. (There's also cases where the defsym target can be an expression instead of just a symbol name, which I admittedly haven't thought about too hard, but I believe the same logic  should hold in terms of any needed sections getting preserved regardless.) I want to change defsym targets specifically to not be considered as GC roots, so that they can be dead code eliminated. Does anyone foresee any issues with this?

Thanks,
Shoaib