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Date:      Thu, 21 May 1998 08:00:30 -0700
From:      Mike Smith <mike@smith.net.au>
To:        Joao Carlos Mendes Luis <jonny@jonny.eng.br>
Cc:        hasty@rah.star-gate.com (Amancio Hasty), bde@zeta.org.au, jkh@time.cdrom.com, ahasty@FreeBSD.ORG, cvs-all@FreeBSD.ORG, cvs-committers@FreeBSD.ORG, cvs-sys@FreeBSD.ORG, luigi@labinfo.iet.unipi.it, roger@cs.strath.ac.uk
Subject:   Re: cvs commit: src/sys/pci brooktree848.c 
Message-ID:  <199805211500.IAA03281@antipodes.cdrom.com>
In-Reply-To: Your message of "Thu, 21 May 1998 11:24:52 -0300." <199805211424.LAA15001@roma.coe.ufrj.br> 

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> #define quoting(Amancio Hasty)
> // Actually, it is more natural to standardized around a unified interface
> 
> Yes...

Agreed.

> // If I want to find out all the bt848 devices on the system:
> // sysctl hw.bt848 
> // which does a snmplike walk on the node hw.bt848
> 
> This is not the SNMP way.

Mentioning SNMP was a Bad Idea.

> // Incidentely, you can still maintain the device control programs as shell
> // wrappers which just use sysctl commands;however, the converse is not true.
> 
> I have one doubt on the subject.  Device control can always have
> permissions controlled on the file node.  What about sysctls ?

Good point, and one for Garrett's desire to see the parameter space 
take on filesystem semantics.

The problem with using the filesystem itself for this is the same 
problem that /dev has - there is no direct association between the real 
parameter space and the access points.  DEVFS begins the process of 
addressing this, and you could do the same with a SYSCTLFS, however 
neither of these address the persistence issue usefully.

> sysctls are good for monitoring and/or settings defaults at rc.local,
> but not for final user control.  That's why I still have no position
> on this discussion.  My position is that sysctl is the choice, then
> it must look like SNMP.   Period.

I am likewise a little indecisive, but quite certain that emulating 
SNMP slavishly (as opposed to learning from it) would be a mistake.

-- 
\\  Sometimes you're ahead,       \\  Mike Smith
\\  sometimes you're behind.      \\  mike@smith.net.au
\\  The race is long, and in the  \\  msmith@freebsd.org
\\  end it's only with yourself.  \\  msmith@cdrom.com



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