From owner-freebsd-hackers Mon Dec 22 01:56:20 1997 Return-Path: Received: (from root@localhost) by hub.freebsd.org (8.8.7/8.8.7) id BAA12950 for hackers-outgoing; Mon, 22 Dec 1997 01:56:20 -0800 (PST) (envelope-from owner-freebsd-hackers) Received: from word.smith.net.au (vh1.gsoft.com.au [203.38.152.122]) by hub.freebsd.org (8.8.7/8.8.7) with ESMTP id BAA12922 for ; Mon, 22 Dec 1997 01:55:46 -0800 (PST) (envelope-from mike@word.smith.net.au) Received: from word (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by word.smith.net.au (8.8.8/8.8.5) with ESMTP id UAA00717; Mon, 22 Dec 1997 20:20:07 +1030 (CST) Message-Id: <199712220950.UAA00717@word.smith.net.au> X-Mailer: exmh version 2.0zeta 7/24/97 To: "J. Weatherbee - Senior Systems Architect" cc: Mike Smith , hackers@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: Am I off my rocker? (/dev/tick device) In-reply-to: Your message of "Mon, 22 Dec 1997 01:47:58 -0800." Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Date: Mon, 22 Dec 1997 20:20:07 +1030 From: Mike Smith Sender: owner-freebsd-hackers@FreeBSD.ORG X-Loop: FreeBSD.org Precedence: bulk I am going to try to avoid another of your long, rambling "there is no egg on my face" threads by not cc:ing -hackers on this. > 1) I realize that (/dev/tick). However, the "clock" is a device, and > in the UNIX spirit of things should also be a file. No? No. Consider network devices. > In this same way, > I don't really see why any of the /dev/mem devices are necessary? All of > those things could be accomplished through system calls. No, they can't. Think ownership, permissions, access control. > In that way > /dev/null and /dev/zero are pretty useless, I mean what do they really > achieve that you couldn't do in C code? They interoperate efficiently with, and provide useful services to, user programs. > 2) On the vectorized i/o, think about processes multiplexing > with say 1000 - 2000 descriptors. So? Async I/O is *more* efficient, not less. > 3) Your pretty conservative, sometime I wonder if maybye you wouldn't be > happier with a 10 year old copy of AT&T UNIX? That's a laugh. Consider the flipside: if your ideas are so damn good, why, over the last thirty odd years of Unix development, hasn't someone else already implemented them? You can't possibly imagine that you are smarter, or more innovative, than people that have come before you? The fact that you've come up with an idea does not disqualify it from being a stupid idea, any more than my ideas, or anyone elses. You simply seem to be less experienced when it comes to telling how bad your ideas are, and less cautious when it comes to airing them. mike