Chmod +x a SQLite database: a working ELF replacement
What if the binary you run were a SQLite file you could query? SELF, a fleshed-out prototype from a PhD thesis, makes chmod +x mean "run a database" and lets you `SELECT soname FROM ldd` instead of parsing ELF by hand. The killer argument: ELF already is a database, just one that hand-implements string interning, indexes, and foreign keys. Turning executables into real databases kills a generation of bespoke parsers.