Re: LANANA: To Pending Device Number Registrants

[Jeff Garzik]

"H. Peter Anvin" wrote:
> Jeff Garzik wrote:
> > Register block device using existing API, and obtain a dynamically
> > assigned major number.  Export a tiny ramfs which lists all device
> > nodes.  Mounted on /dev/snap, /dev/snap/0 would be the first blkdev for
> > snap's dynamically assigned major.  (Al Viro said he has skeleton code
> > to create such an fs, IIRC)

> It does, however, not manage permissions, nor does it provide for a sane
> namespace (it exposes too many internal implementation details in the
> interface -- in particular, the driver becomes part of the namespace, and
> devices move around between drivers regularly.)

True -- that capability is provided by devfs+devfsd, which is supported
in the driver by using the existing 2.4 devfs hooks.  For that case one
would not mount the driver's devfs.

I look at it as an effective transition mechanism.  Device numbers are
frozen now, but devfs is not deployed now.  My solution gets us from
point A to point B, and is IMHO workable in the stable 2.4 series.  We
can go 100% devfs or whatever in 2.5 or 3.0..

Regards,

	Jeff

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