Link Dump: Plugins and DLLs

MOSREF requires the creation of statically linked "monolithic" binaries for Drones. Wasp, prior to 0.3, supported loading plugins written in C by bundling the entire virtual machine into a shared object file. The following is a list of links I have been looking at, trying to find a way to support plugins while keeping the virtual machine itself in the executable:

• FlexDLL -- Emulates UNIX dlopen on Win32.
• EDLL -- Reimplements the dynamic linker for Windows; also catalogues common workarounds for the DLL plugin paradox.
• DLL Creation in MinGW -- A succinct tutorial on LoadLibrary / GetProcAddress.
• The University of Colorado MinGW FAQ -- Contains a nice list of common MinGW gotchas.
• The Program Library HOWTO -- More about how to design libraries on UNIX systems than Win32, but discusses those techniques thoroughly.
• Wikipedia: Dynamic Loading -- Contains an interesting technique for DLLs to access the original process's symbols.
• Dynamic Linking in Linux and Windows, part two -- More in-depth discussion of DLLs and their limitations.

The criteria for a successful solution:

• Permits a plugin subsystem to call routines in the virtual machine. (Blocks naked use of DLLs and LoadLibrary / GetProcAddress.)
• Shares data structures in the virtual machine process with all plugins.
• Does not bloat the virtual machine.
• Does not require special effort by plugin authors. (Disqualifying passing a structure of API function pointers to the plugin.)
• Does not tightly couple the plugin to the binary. (Disqualifying various --output-implib tricks.)
• Does not excessively complicate the build process. (Disqualifying LibTool.)