title: 32-bit absolute addresses no longer allowed in x86-64 Linux?
body: <p>64 bit Linux uses the small memory model by default, which puts all code and static data below the 2GB address limit. This makes sure that you can use 32-bit absolute addresses. Older versions of gcc use 32-bit absolute addresses for static arrays in order to save an extra instruction for relative address calculation. However, this no longer works. If I try to make a 32-bit absolute address in assembly, I get the linker error:
  "relocation R_X86_64_32S against `.data' can not be used when making a shared object; recompile with -fPIC".
  This error message is misleading, of course, because I am not making a shared object and -fPIC doesn't help.
  What I have found out so far is this: gcc version 4.8.5 uses 32-bit absolute addresses for static arrays, gcc version 6.3.0 doesn't. version 5 probably doesn't either. The linker in binutils 2.24 allows 32-bit absolute addresses, verson 2.28 does not. </p>
  
  <p>The consequence of this change is that old libraries have to be recompiled and legacy assembly code is broken.</p>
  
  <p>Now I want to ask: When was this change made? Is it documented somewhere? And is there a linker option that makes it accept 32-bit absolute addresses?</p>