Re: Kernel includefile bug not fixed after a year :-(

Joerg Schilling
2003-09-30T12:00:09Z

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>From axboe@suse.de Tue Sep 30 13:54:12 2003

>> >> Is there no interest in user applications for kernel features or is there just
>> >> no kernel maintainer left over who makes the needed work?
>>
>> >/usr/include/scsi/scsi.h looks fine on my system, probably also on
>> >yours. You should not include kernel headers in your user space program.
>>
>> Looks like you did not understand the background :-(

>I think I do.

Sorry, but you just verified that you don't :-(

>> In order to use kernel interfaces you _need_ to include kernel include
>> files.

>False. You need to include the glibc kernel headers.

False: as glibc kernel headers are not part of the kernel distribution.

>> This is in particular true as long as we are talking about
>> beta/testing kernels.
>>
>>
>> Background: on homogeneous platforms like e.g. Solaris or FreeBSD
>> which are maintained and distributed as whole, an _enduser_ should
>> include files from /usr/include only.
>>
>> This is not even true for people who do Solaris or FreeBSD
>> kernel development and like to test new features with user level
>> programs. It is definitely not true for compilations against
>> Linux kernel interfaces.
>>
>> Linux is not a homogeneous system. There is a separately developed
>> kernel and a separate base user level system. People often install a
>> newer kernel and need to recompile software because the kernel/user
>> interfaces are not stable between different Linux releases.

>That's a pretty bold claim, when did the kernel/user interface break? A
>lot of care is usually taken to ensure that this does not happen.

>This subject has been debated to death lots of times before, I'm sure
>the archives are more detailed and enlightening that I am.

If these debates have not been done in a serious way, or people without
the needed kernel development background knowledge did decide, these
debates are just void.

Jörg

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