Re: DEVFS_FS

[Jamie Lokier <jamie@shareable.org>]

Bryan Henderson wrote:
> >In other words, if /dev were auto-generated based on all available
> >hardware
> 
> Bear in mind that "all available hardware" may be a set completely 
> impossible to ascertain.  Consider a computer attached to the Internet 
> that uses ISCSI devices.  There would need to be a /dev entry for every 
> ISCSI logical unit on the Internet.

I agree, that is neither feasible nor useful.
That's what I meant by the qualifier "to the extent that is possible".

We have the same problem with virtual filesystems like httpfs or
bittorrentfs: You can't list files in them, except for files the
system already knows about.

> I find the strategies fall into two major categories:  1) addressing; and 
> 2) discovery.  With addressing, the user identifies the device in such a 
> way that the system knows everything it needs to find it (or find that no 
> such device exists).  Like identifying a web page by URL.  With discovery, 
> the user identifies the device in a way that doesn't suggest how to reach 
> it, like identifying a tape drive by the volume ID of the currently 
> mounted tape.

That's a useful distinction to highlight.  There are devices that only
work nicely in one or other model.

-- Jamie