Date: Fri, 8 Oct 1999 09:43:39 +1000
From: Peter Jeremy <peter.jeremy@alcatel.com.au>
To: David O'Brien <obrien@FreeBSD.ORG>
Cc: freebsd-current@FreeBSD.ORG
Subject: Re: {a}sync updates (was Re: make install trick)
Message-ID: <99Oct8.094007est.40352@border.alcanet.com.au>
In-Reply-To: <19991007151312.D68920@dragon.nuxi.com>
References: <99Oct6.103524est.40351@border.alcanet.com.au> <Pine.BSF.4.05.9910051831180.6368-100000@fw.wintelcom.net> <99Oct6.145359est.40347@border.alcanet.com.au> <19991006154419.O20768@futuresouth.com> <99Oct7.085536est.40332@border.alcanet.com.au> <19991006181542.S20768@futuresouth.com> <99Oct7.115403est.40324@border.alcanet.com.au> <19991007151312.D68920@dragon.nuxi.com>
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On 1999-Oct-08 08:13:12 +1000, David O'Brien wrote: >> >mount(8): >> > sync All I/O to the file system should be done synchronously. >> >> How detailed should the man page be? If it stated "all file data will >> be written synchronously, but inodes where the only update is atime >> and free block bitmaps are written asynchronously", would that be any >> clearer to a user who didn't have a detailed understanding of UFS? > >Yes. I know the difference between sync/async and data/metadata. My point was that the average user probably doesn't. I agree that the current description glosses over the difference (and probably shouldn't). We need to strike a balance between providing enough detail for the knowledgeable user (who wants to know exactly what a sync mount does to different types of writes within the FS) and the novice user (who doesn't understand the details of UFS and is more likely to become confused). IMHO, `sync' does behave in a reasonable manner. I'm not sure how I'd go about explaining its behaviour to someone who didn't understand the UFS though. > Guess I go off editing mount(8) again. I was going to suggest that the relationship between the sync option in mount(2,8) and O_FSYNC in open(2) be noted. Only problem is that O_FSYNC isn't documented :-(. Peter -- Peter Jeremy (VK2PJ) peter.jeremy@alcatel.com.au Alcatel Australia Limited 41 Mandible St Phone: +61 2 9690 5019 ALEXANDRIA NSW 2015 Fax: +61 2 9690 5982 To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-current" in the body of the message
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