Is that correct that a mutex object in Linux cannot be used for cross process synchronization as opposed to its Windows counterpart?
If that is true – what was the idea to limit mutex synchronisation functionality on Linux?
Difference between mutex in windows and linux
linuxsynchronizationwindows
Related Solutions
There's at least 3 things that you could call "loaders" in Linux. The "ld" part of a compile, that puts together various object (.o) and archive (.a) files into a single executable is one. "ld" also checks shared object (.so) files to see if the dynamic linker can work correctly.
The dynamic linker (do man ld.so for details) gets run by the Linux kernel as part of starting up an ELF format executable. It reads linking information from the ELF file, and then (at least) maps in shared object files (.so suffix). The details are rather involved, and at least sometimes involve updating the GOT, a section in memory that maps a compiled-in branch destination to the actual, as-loaded address of the library code. See: http://netwinder.osuosl.org/users/p/patb/public_html/elf_relocs.html for a lot of details.
There's also a piece of the Linux kernel that reads in executable files, that's sometimes called a "loader". When you configure a linux kernel, you can choose to include or exclude some of these executable file formats (a.out, mainly) loaders. I had the code of linux 2.6.20.9 lying about, and I found "loaders" for different executable formats in linux-2.6.20.9/fs/: binfmt_aout.c, binfmt_elf.c, binfmt_script.c, and a few others.
I know next to nothing of how Windows does this same process, but it must do most or all of the same things.
Java applications are run on a java virtual machine, which is what allows them to work on multiple platforms. However, android sdks have quite a few additional libraries and features pertaining exclusively to an android-compatible application that would make direct porting to windows impossible without adaptation.
That said, there are libraries which when used will allow an application for android to work on windows, with the exception to features of the android phone which obviously absent when run on windows. My guess is these libraries would provide a means to distinguish, but ideally you would want to distinguish as little as feasibly possible.
So in short no, not without some adaptations. If you're considering creating a program which will work on both, I would recommend you first find one such library, as it will be far more difficult to change later.
Best Answer
The difference is kind of "made up", on windows MUTEX is very rarely used, and even then no really for sync but to discover already runnin instance of the program. What has wide use is CRITICAL_SECTION, and it is close equivalent of recursive mutex on linux, solaris and others.