Ty Sarna writes:

The following patches (relative to 1.5.2b1) enable Python dynamic
loading to work on NetBSD platforms that use ELF (presnetly mips and
alpha systems).  They automaticly determine wether the system is ELF or
a.out rather than using astatic list of platforms so that when other
NetBSD platforms move to ELF, python will continue to work without
change.

Python/importdl.c

@@ -260,7 +260,7 @@ typedef void (*dl_funcptr)();
 extern char *Py_GetProgramName();
 
 #ifndef FUNCNAME_PATTERN
-#if defined(__hp9000s300) || defined(__NetBSD__) || defined(__FreeBSD__) && !defined(__ELF__) || defined(__OpenBSD__) || defined(__BORLANDC__)
+#if defined(__hp9000s300) || (defined(__NetBSD__) || defined(__FreeBSD__)) && !defined(__ELF__) || defined(__OpenBSD__) || defined(__BORLANDC__)
 #define FUNCNAME_PATTERN "_init%.200s"
 #else
 #define FUNCNAME_PATTERN "init%.200s"

configure.in

@@ -359,7 +359,14 @@ then
 	Linux*) LDSHARED="gcc -shared";;
 	dgux*) LDSHARED="ld -G";;
 	FreeBSD*/3*) LDSHARED="gcc -shared";;
-	FreeBSD*|NetBSD*|OpenBSD*) LDSHARED="ld -Bshareable";;
+	FreeBSD*|OpenBSD*) LDSHARED="ld -Bshareable";;
+	NetBSD*)
+		if [[ "`$CC -dM -E - </dev/null | grep __ELF__`" != "" ]]
+		then
+			LDSHARED="cc -shared"
+		else
+			LDSHARED="ld -Bshareable"
+		fi;;
 	SCO_SV*) LDSHARED="cc -G -KPIC -Ki486 -belf -Wl,-Bexport";;
 	*)	LDSHARED="ld";;
 	esac
@@ -376,7 +383,8 @@ then
 		 else CCSHARED="+z";
 		 fi;;
 	Linux*) CCSHARED="-fpic";;
-	FreeBSD*|NetBSD*|OpenBSD*) CCSHARED="-fpic";;
+	FreeBSD*|OpenBSD*) CCSHARED="-fpic";;
+	NetBSD*) CCSHARED="-fPIC";;
 	SCO_SV*) CCSHARED="-KPIC -dy -Bdynamic";;
 	IRIX*/6*)  case $CC in
 		   *gcc*) CCSHARED="-shared";;
@@ -398,6 +406,11 @@ then
 	Linux*) LINKFORSHARED="-Xlinker -export-dynamic";;
 	next/*) LINKFORSHARED="-u libsys_s";;
 	SCO_SV*) LINKFORSHARED="-Bdynamic -dy -Wl,-Bexport";;
+	NetBSD*) 
+		if [[ "`$CC -dM -E - </dev/null | grep __ELF__`" != "" ]]
+		then
+			LINKFORSHARED="-Wl,--export-dynamic"
+		fi;;
 	SunOS/5*) case $CC in
 		  *gcc*)
 		    if $CC -Xlinker -V 2>/dev/null | grep BFD >/dev/null
@@ -537,7 +550,8 @@ DLINCLDIR=${dldir}
 LIBS="$LIBS -ldl -ldld"], AC_MSG_RESULT(no))
 
 # checks for library functions
-AC_CHECK_FUNCS(alarm chown clock dlopen execv flock fork ftime ftruncate \
+AC_CHECK_FUNCS(alarm chown clock dlopen execv flock fork \
+ fsync fdatasync ftime ftruncate \
  gethostname_r getpeername getpgrp getpid getpwent gettimeofday getwd \
  kill link lstat mkfifo mktime nice pause plock pthread_init putenv readlink \
  select setgid setlocale setuid setsid setpgid setpgrp setvbuf \