Re: [RFC] Splitting out kernel<=>userspace ABI headers

[Erik Andersen <andersen@codepoet.org>]

On Sat Sep 03, 2005 at 12:07:58AM +0000, H. Peter Anvin wrote:
> Followup to:  <20050902235833.GA28238@codepoet.org>
> By author:    Erik Andersen <andersen@codepoet.org>
> In newsgroup: linux.dev.kernel
> > 
> > <uClibc maintainer hat on>
> > That would be wonderful.
> > </off>
> > 
> > It would be especially nice if everything targeting user space
> > were to use only all the nice standard ISO C99 types as defined
> > in include/stdint.h such as uint32_t and friends...
> > 
> 
> Absolutely not.  This would be a POSIX namespace violation; they
> *must* use double-underscore types.

I assume you are worried about the stuff under asm that ends up
being included by nearly every header file in the world.  Of
course asm must use double-underscore types.  But the thing is,
the vast majority of the kernel headers live under
linux/include/linux/ and do not use double-underscore types, they
use kernel specific, non-underscored types such as s8, u32, etc.
My copy of IEEE 1003.1 and my copy of ISO/IEC 9899:1999 both fail
to prohibit using the shiny new ISO C99 type for the various
#include <linux/*> header files, which is what I was suggesting.

The world would be so much nicer a place if user space were free
to #include linux/* header files rather than keeping a
per-project private copy of all kernel structs of interest.  And
where these kernel headers would #include stdint.h and define
their stucts in terms of ISO C99 types.  I see nothing at all in
the standards preventing such a change,

 -Erik

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Erik B. Andersen             http://codepoet-consulting.com/
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