module which is linked into the kernel and cannot be unloaded.
The main purpose is to get the proper constructors run and create
any /dev nodes necessary for said component. Once more of the
kernel (e.g. networking stack and device drivers) are converted to
MODULE and devfs pops up from somewhere, rump components can be
retired.
in libs built with binutils >=2.19. This is a less error-prone
method than the previous where components had to be tagged in the
Makefile as modules (and if they weren't, things broke. and vice
versa).