Re: Moving away from /dev ?

[Gordon Matzigkeit <gord@trick.fig.org>]

>>>>> Kevin S Ho writes:

 KSH> Would having such a device structure (kernel level devices
 KSH> exporting symbols) be all that much of an architecture win?

I think you may be a little confused: GNU Mach already exports devices
as strings, rather than the {char,block}/major/minor magic numbers
that Linux and other Unix-like kernels use.

So, your question becomes a little moot; OKUJI and Thomas are talking
about refining an existing architecture, not the drastic redesign that
you're referring to.

 KSH> The ability for drivers to be userland, indeed, for a driver to
 KSH> run on a machine other than the one the hardware device is on,
 KSH> provides significant benefits.

I agree.

Chances are, though, that it will be easier to move to a different
microkernel than to add all these new design features to GNU Mach,
unless something like UDI catches on.

In any event, it's premature to discuss.  OKUJI and Thomas's plans are
not yet a redesign, merely a bugfix.

-- 
 Gordon Matzigkeit <gord@fig.org>  //\ I'm a FIG (http://www.fig.org/)
Committed to freedom and diversity \// I use GNU (http://www.gnu.org/)