Re: Larger dev_t

John Byrne
2001-03-26T21:28:37Z

> Re: Larger dev_t
>
On Sat Mar 24 2001 Linus Torvalds (torvalds@transmeta.com) wrote:
> There is no way in HELL I will ever accept a 64-bit dev_t.
>
> I _will_ accept a 32-bit dev_t, with 12 bits for major numbers, and 20
> bits for minor numbers.
>

Do you have any interest in doing away with the concept of major and
minor numbers altogether; turning the dev_t into an opaque unique id?

At the application level, the kinds of information that is derived from
the major/minor number should probably be derived in some other manner
such as a library or system call. Code that determines device type by
comparing with the major/minor numbers should probably be discouraged in
the long run and this could be a good time to start.

John Byrne