Which of these is correct? 1) The manual states: used This attribute, attached to a variable with static storage, means that the variable must be emitted even if it appears that the variable is not referenced. When applied to a static data member of a C++ class template, the attribute also means that the member is instantiated if the class itself is instantiated. retain For ELF targets that support the GNU or FreeBSD OSABIs, this attribute will save the variable from linker garbage collection. To support this behavior, variables that have not been placed in specific sections (e.g. by the section attribute, or the -fdata-sections option), will be placed in new, unique sections. This additional functionality requires Binutils version 2.36 or later. 2) The gcc 11 changes website (https://gcc.gnu.org/gcc-11/changes.html) states: For ELF targets that support the GNU or FreeBSD OSABIs, the used attribute will now save the symbol declaration it is applied to from linker garbage collection. To support this behavior, used symbols that have not been placed in specific sections (e.g. with the section attribute, or the -f{function,data}-sections options) will be placed in new, unique sections. This functionality requires Binutils version 2.36 or later.
