Date: Sun, 17 Feb 2002 17:14:12 -0800 From: Terry Lambert <tlambert2@mindspring.com> To: Anthony Atkielski <anthony@freebie.atkielski.com> Cc: FreeBSD Questions <freebsd-questions@freebsd.org> Subject: Re: in-kernel HTTP Server for FreeBSD? Message-ID: <3C705564.E1EA2FDA@mindspring.com> References: <20020217143343.41758.qmail@web21104.mail.yahoo.com> <xzp4rkgf7n7.fsf@flood.ping.uio.no> <20020217163045.GB90303@voi.aagh.net> <3C703089.AD03554B@mindspring.com> <018501c1b816$2a9cb970$0a00000a@atkielski.com>
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Anthony Atkielski wrote: > Terry writes: > > If you have followed the khttpd work at all, then > > you'll know that Ingo has actually done some > > admirable work in it. > > Admirable or not, an HTTP server does not belong in the kernel, unless the > entire OS is designed as a dedicated HTTP server, and nothing else. This is the third list on which you've made bald statements as if they were facts. Do I need to filter you on this list, too? The obvious rejoinder to your claim is that on a resource starved system that is using HTTP based system management, once you hit resource starvation, your management of the system which would enable you to recover from the failure situation is impossible, unless that management is immune from said stavation (e.g. by being in the kernel). Another obvious, but somewhat less universal dictum, would be that performance of HTTP based management should be constant, regardless of other system load, since interacting with the human managing the system is the most import task any system can have on its "to do" list. Therefore, a kernel based HTTP server is an elegant approach to a problem that would otherwise require a significant amount of scheduler and other work to resolve. To back up my statement on the importance of a machine responding to the human who owns it, I refer you to: Context and Consciousness: Activity Theory and Human-Computer Interaction Ed. Bonnie A. Nardi MIT Press ISBN: 0-262-14058-6 Finally, yes, it makes sense for a dedicated web server to do this; so what? It also make sense for any web server where performance is an issue, dedicated or not. PS: People use FreeBSD for dedicated web servers; therefore, even if your limitation argument were valid, which I don't grant, it makes sense for FreeBSD to at least have this facility available. -- Terry To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-questions" in the body of the message
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