kmsg --- get the boot messages

[Marcus Brinkmann <Marcus.Brinkmann@ruhr-uni-bochum.de>]

Hi,

the new hurd package (hurd_20000921) has a new translator, called streamdev.
It is a generic translator for the character devices in gnumach, and was
written by OKUJI Yoshinori.

One usage is to get the boot kernel messages.

cd /dev
./MAKEDEV kmsg
cat /dev/kmsg
^C

The ^C indicates that you need to press CTRL-C to exit, because
the read blocks. Also, the buffer is FLUSHED, so you can only read once.

There are other character devices in gnumach. For example, kbd and mouse.
But the reason that there are special translators for them is that
they need some special treatment. For example, you need to be able
to set the keyboard in event mode, using a ioctl().

Thanks,
Marcus