From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Return-Path: Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org via listexpand id ; Mon, 14 May 2001 16:05:32 -0400 Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org id ; Mon, 14 May 2001 16:05:22 -0400 Received: from panic.ohr.gatech.edu ([130.207.47.194]:22203 "HELO havoc.gtf.org") by vger.kernel.org with SMTP id ; Mon, 14 May 2001 16:05:08 -0400 Message-ID: <3B003A6B.69C6D126@mandrakesoft.com> Date: Mon, 14 May 2001 16:04:59 -0400 From: Jeff Garzik Organization: MandrakeSoft X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.77 [en] (X11; U; Linux 2.4.5-pre1 i686) X-Accept-Language: en MIME-Version: 1.0 To: "H. Peter Anvin" Cc: Linux Kernel Mailing List , Linus Torvalds , viro@math.psu.edu Subject: Re: LANANA: To Pending Device Number Registrants In-Reply-To: <3B002FC6.C0093C18@transmeta.com> <3B0033A4.8BB96F43@mandrakesoft.com> <3B0038B3.EBB9747A@transmeta.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Sender: linux-kernel-owner@vger.kernel.org X-Mailing-List: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org "H. Peter Anvin" wrote: > Jeff Garzik wrote: > > Register block device using existing API, and obtain a dynamically > > assigned major number. Export a tiny ramfs which lists all device > > nodes. Mounted on /dev/snap, /dev/snap/0 would be the first blkdev for > > snap's dynamically assigned major. (Al Viro said he has skeleton code > > to create such an fs, IIRC) > It does, however, not manage permissions, nor does it provide for a sane > namespace (it exposes too many internal implementation details in the > interface -- in particular, the driver becomes part of the namespace, and > devices move around between drivers regularly.) True -- that capability is provided by devfs+devfsd, which is supported in the driver by using the existing 2.4 devfs hooks. For that case one would not mount the driver's devfs. I look at it as an effective transition mechanism. Device numbers are frozen now, but devfs is not deployed now. My solution gets us from point A to point B, and is IMHO workable in the stable 2.4 series. We can go 100% devfs or whatever in 2.5 or 3.0.. Regards, Jeff -- Jeff Garzik | Game called on account of naked chick Building 1024 | MandrakeSoft |