https://gcc.gnu.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=80044
--- Comment #1 from Alan Modra <amodra at gmail dot com> --- Revising my original comments.. According to the gcc docs -static is supposed to just prevent linking with dynamic libraries. I agree that this is traditional linker behaviour. That means, for example, that -shared -static ought to create a shared library but any libraries linked should be static libraries. Presumably those libraries would have been compiled PIC. Similarly, -pie -static ought to create a PIE but any libraries linked should be static libraries, presumably also compiled as PIC. Of course on most Linux systems static libraries are not PIC so aren't suitable for use in a PIE. However, there isn't really a fundamental reason the option combination should not be allowed. It is true that -pie -static chooses wrong startup files, and doesn't pass a -dynamic-linker option to ld. That is a bug. Also, an explicit -pie -static when gcc is configured for --enable-default-pie ought to behave the same as -pie -static when PIEs are not default. ie. gcc should produce a PIE, not a static executable in that case.
