The link-editor can decompress and compress debug sections. See Compressed Debug Sections and Section Compression.
Improved synchronization between runtime auditors and process initialization is provided with the la_callinit() and la_callentry() functions. See Audit Interface Functions and Audit Interface Control Flow.
The –z relax option can be used to relax items of the link-editor's default validity checking. This option allows the creation of an output object that would otherwise be rejected. The –z relax option supersedes the –t and –z relaxreloc options. See ld(1)).
Greater flexibility in option processing is provided with the link-editor –z type option, and the additional LD_UNSET, LD_{object-type}_OPTIONS and LD_{object-type}_UNSET environment variables. See Specifying the Link-Editor Options.
The new –F option to elfdump(1) provides output format options.
Stub objects can omit symbols found in the associated real object. This technique prevents the use of those symbols in new code development that link against the stub object, while maintaining the symbols in the real object for backward compatibility. See Using Stub Objects to Hide Obsolete Interfaces.