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Date:      10 Jan 1999 04:54:08 +0100
From:      Dag-Erling Smorgrav <des@flood.ping.uio.no>
To:        Darren Reed <darrenr@reed.wattle.id.au>
Cc:        phk@critter.freebsd.dk, committers@FreeBSD.ORG
Subject:   Re: sysctl descriptions
Message-ID:  <xzpn23rvl3z.fsf@flood.ping.uio.no>
In-Reply-To: Darren Reed's message of "Sun, 10 Jan 1999 14:34:41 %2B1100 (EST)"
References:  <199901100334.OAA14807@avalon.reed.wattle.id.au>

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Darren Reed <darrenr@reed.wattle.id.au> writes:
> Whilst I don't want to piss on you for doing this, just a couple of
> comments:
> - the kernel itself doesn't keep many descriptions, because they're
>   meaningless.  Take system errors as an example, to find out what
>   an error string is you call strerror().  Most of the strings inside
>   are messages sent out /dev/console or via log() or are there to inform
>   about bootup configuration.  I don't know why one would need to have
>   sysctl descriptions "in-kernel".  Maybe you could develop a libsysctl
>   and add include interface for reading in a config file with extras or
>   something similar.

Please, think about how to implement it in-kernel as I have, then
think about how to implement it in userland. Remeber that KLDs can
have sysctls as well, and that sysctl nodes can even be created
dynamically, e.g. on a per-device basis. Compare the complexity and
maintenance cost of those two solutions. Add to it the fact that my
code is finished and works, whereas yours hasn't left the drawing
board. Consider also that currently, the sysctl descriptions total
approximately 5,000 bytes, which is negligible next to the size of the
kernel. The kernel on the computer I'm sending this from weighs in at
1.1 MB, and would be 50% larger if I compiled in the NFS code instead
of using the KLD.

> p.s. it is a good idea, in general, just the implementation needs some
>      work.

If you see any problems with my implementation of sysctl_sysctl_descr,
I'd love to hear some constructive criticism.

DES
-- 
Dag-Erling Smorgrav - des@flood.ping.uio.no

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