From owner-freebsd-hackers Mon Jan 24 1:15: 9 2000 Delivered-To: freebsd-hackers@freebsd.org Received: from smtp05.wxs.nl (smtp05.wxs.nl [195.121.6.57]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 1F981158C7; Mon, 24 Jan 2000 01:14:47 -0800 (PST) (envelope-from asmodai@wxs.nl) Received: from daemon.ninth-circle.org ([195.121.196.196]) by smtp05.wxs.nl (Netscape Messaging Server 4.05) with ESMTP id FOU1OB01.58T; Mon, 24 Jan 2000 10:14:35 +0100 Received: (from asmodai@localhost) by daemon.ninth-circle.org (8.9.3/8.9.3) id KAA02596; Mon, 24 Jan 2000 10:04:11 +0100 (CET) (envelope-from asmodai) Date: Mon, 24 Jan 2000 10:04:10 +0100 From: Jeroen Ruigrok/Asmodai To: Mike Smith Cc: Greg Lehey , Bill Maniatty , FreeBSD-doc@FreeBSD.ORG, maniatty@cs.albany.edu, freebsd-hackers@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: Learning the FreeBSD Kernel Message-ID: <20000124100410.A691@daemon.ninth-circle.org> References: <20000124123920.F2643@mojave.worldwide.lemis.com> <200001240635.WAA10110@mass.cdrom.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii X-Mailer: Mutt 1.0i In-Reply-To: <200001240635.WAA10110@mass.cdrom.com>; from msmith@freebsd.org on Sun, Jan 23, 2000 at 10:35:53PM -0800 Organisation: Ninth-Circle Enterprises Sender: owner-freebsd-hackers@FreeBSD.ORG Precedence: bulk X-Loop: FreeBSD.ORG -On [20000124 08:01], Mike Smith (msmith@freebsd.org) wrote: >> I can't agree with Mike Smith that reading the code is adequate. It >> certainly doesn't apply to newcomers, but it doesn't even apply to >> seasoned hackers like Mike: the BSD style doesn't provide for adequate >> comments, and so what you see from the code is mainly tactics, not >> strategy. > >You miss my point; you don't want to be writing a driver until you know >what you're doing. Documentation on an OS' driver interface won't teach >you that; it's something that's really only ever gleaned from experience. This I agree on with Mike. Writing device drivers isn't like writing an application. The documentation I am writing will definately not be a tutorial style piece of documentation, but a reference guide with sufficient background material so that people a bit familiar with FreeBSD on source level (note the ``a bit'') will get enough ideas and clues from it to proceed forwards. I do not think making it a tutorial will be beneficial in the long run, since I would have to discuss kernel sources, gdb, ddb and a number of other things on the side. But then again we will see where we will end. I just know, from experience, that writing a driver involves more than just code. -- Jeroen Ruigrok vd W/Asmodai asmodai@[wxs.nl|bart.nl|freebsd.org] Documentation nutter/B-rated Coder BSD: Technical excellence at its best The BSD Programmer's Documentation Project Ain't gonna spend the rest of my Life, quietly fading away... To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-hackers" in the body of the message