Re: [PATCH] RTC: Add mmap method to rtc character driver

H. Peter Anvin
2006-07-25T22:35:48Z

Neil Horman wrote:
>>
> Yes, but if its in trade for something thats being used currently which hurts
> more (case in point being the X server), using this solution is a net gain.
>
> I'm not arguing with you that adding a low res gettimeofday vsyscall is a better
> long term solution, but doing that requires potentially several implementations
> in the C library accross a range of architectures, some of which may not be able
> to provide a time solution any better than what the gettimeofday syscall
> provides today. The /dev/rtc solution is easy, available right now, and applies
> to all arches. It has zero impact for systems which do not use it, and for
> those applications which make a decision to use it instead of an alternate
> method, the result I expect will be a net gain, until such time as we code up,
> test and roll out a vsyscall solution
>

Quick hacks are frowned upon in the Linux universe. The kernel-user
space interface is supposed to be stable, and thus a hack like this has
to be maintained indefinitely.

Putting temporary hacks like this in is not a good idea.

-hpa