From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Return-Path: Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org via listexpand id S263352AbTJKRBf (ORCPT ); Sat, 11 Oct 2003 13:01:35 -0400 Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org id S263354AbTJKRBf (ORCPT ); Sat, 11 Oct 2003 13:01:35 -0400 Received: from lvs00-fl-n13.valueweb.net ([216.219.253.195]:34764 "EHLO ams013.ftl.affinity.com") by vger.kernel.org with ESMTP id S263352AbTJKRBd (ORCPT ); Sat, 11 Oct 2003 13:01:33 -0400 Message-ID: <3F88372B.1000209@coyotegulch.com> Date: Sat, 11 Oct 2003 13:00:27 -0400 From: Scott Robert Ladd User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; U; Linux i686; en-US; rv:1.4) Gecko/20030930 Debian/1.4-5 X-Accept-Language: en MIME-Version: 1.0 To: Linux Kernel Mailing List Subject: Re: 2.7 thoughts: common well-architected object model References: <20031011160621.22378.qmail@web13006.mail.yahoo.com> In-Reply-To: <20031011160621.22378.qmail@web13006.mail.yahoo.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Sender: linux-kernel-owner@vger.kernel.org X-Mailing-List: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org asdfd esadd wrote: > So let me restate the need: > > * a unified well architected core component model > which is extensible from OS services to application > objects > > * the object model should be defined from the kernel > layer for process/events/devices etc. up and not > started at the application layer A few years ago, I would have agreed with you. But in today's reality, an OS-based object model provides a singular target for malicious attack. The theory of reusable binary components is seductive, yet it leads to many of the flaws seen in Windows. All too often, Windows applications install components which may be newer or even older than the ones they replace; while Microsoft has made strides with component versioning, the problem still exists. These days, many Windows applications ship their own version of "common" components, to avoid incompatibilities with whatever may be installed system-wide. OS-based object models also suffer from bit rot. New hardware and software features require API changes, such that older objects gradually become incompatible with newer requirements. Windows also has the advantage of focusing on a single hardware platform, where Linux runs on an incredible variety of systems. Were Linux to implement an object model, it would need careful and considerate design to address security, versioning, extensibility, and portability. -- Scott Robert Ladd Coyote Gulch Productions (http://www.coyotegulch.com) Software Invention for High-Performance Computing