From owner-freebsd-hackers Wed Aug 6 09:33:11 1997 Return-Path: Received: (from root@localhost) by hub.freebsd.org (8.8.5/8.8.5) id JAA05570 for hackers-outgoing; Wed, 6 Aug 1997 09:33:11 -0700 (PDT) Received: from genesis.atrad.adelaide.edu.au (genesis.atrad.adelaide.edu.au [129.127.96.120]) by hub.freebsd.org (8.8.5/8.8.5) with ESMTP id JAA05554 for ; Wed, 6 Aug 1997 09:33:04 -0700 (PDT) Received: (from msmith@localhost) by genesis.atrad.adelaide.edu.au (8.8.5/8.7.3) id CAA09358; Thu, 7 Aug 1997 02:02:54 +0930 (CST) From: Michael Smith Message-Id: <199708061632.CAA09358@genesis.atrad.adelaide.edu.au> Subject: Re: Registry reviewers? In-Reply-To: <199708061523.RAA17772@truk.brandinnovators.com> from Hans Zuidam at "Aug 6, 97 05:23:17 pm" To: hans@brandinnovators.com (Hans Zuidam) Date: Thu, 7 Aug 1997 02:02:54 +0930 (CST) Cc: msmith@atrad.adelaide.edu.au, hackers@FreeBSD.ORG X-Mailer: ELM [version 2.4ME+ PL28 (25)] MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Sender: owner-freebsd-hackers@FreeBSD.ORG X-Loop: FreeBSD.org Precedence: bulk Hans Zuidam stands accused of saying: > > The main problem I have with this registry idea is that there is > already a facility in the kernel for this type of work. It may > not be perfect, but it works and may be considered ``standard'' in > the BSD world. If I were to take sysctl and fix half of the things that are fundamentally wrong with its design, it would not look anything like it does now, and I would be pilloried for still calling it "sysctl". As things stand, I expect to be able to implement a backwards-compatible set of sysctl interfaces (although ours are nonstandard already) with relative ease, in order to smooth the potential transition to the new system. > Another problem is that of robustness: if the registry get corrupt > your whole system is compromised, see your average Windows 95/NT > system. It's something like putting all your eggs in one basket > and then sitting on it... This is a laughable argument, fundamentally. We already have just such a basket, called "the filesystem". It also shows a basic misapprehension about what an in-kernel parameter registry is all about. This is not a global system data collection; that sort of thing would live in user space, and I would be partial to asking Fred Roeber (Apollo, Netscape) for a lot of input on such an undertaking. > BTW. > I do like the ppbus driver, it solves quite a few problems, thanks. No problem; most of the sweat is Nicolas', and I hope he gets back to me soon so I can get the code committed (note no copyright as yet...) -- ]] Mike Smith, Software Engineer msmith@gsoft.com.au [[ ]] Genesis Software genesis@gsoft.com.au [[ ]] High-speed data acquisition and (GSM mobile) 0411-222-496 [[ ]] realtime instrument control. (ph) +61-8-8267-3493 [[ ]] Unix hardware collector. "Where are your PEZ?" The Tick [[