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To: "Justin T. Gibbs" <gibbs@freefall.freebsd.org>
cc: joerg_wunsch@uriah.heep.sax.de (Joerg Wunsch),
        freebsd-current@freebsd.org (FreeBSD-current users)
Subject: Re: cvs commit: src/sys/dev/ccd ccd.c src/sys/dev/vn vn.c src/sys/sys conf.h src/sys/i386/isa fd.c mcd.c scd.c wcd.c wd.c wt.c s 
In-reply-to: Your message of "Thu, 25 Jul 1996 13:15:32 PDT."
             <199607252015.NAA28229@freefall.freebsd.org> 
Date: Fri, 26 Jul 1996 00:42:56 -0700
Message-ID: <1430.838366976@time.cdrom.com>
From: "Jordan K. Hubbard" <jkh@time.cdrom.com>
Sender: owner-current@freebsd.org
X-Loop: FreeBSD.org
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> Persistence would allow you to change the permissions on a device and
> have them stick.  If a device was not availible, it wouldn't show up
> in /dev, but if it came back (say after replacing faulty hardware)
> any permission changes you made in the past would show up as soon as
> the device did.

It would also allow you to make links, like:

	ln -s /dev/cuaa0 /dev/mouse

Which get recreated automagically when devfs is next mounted.  Yes,
you could accomplish the same effect with a handful of commands in
/etc/rc.local, but the point is to make it transparent and so obey the
principle of least astonishment.

					Jordan