cvs commit: src/sys/kern kern_mutex.c

Poul-Henning Kamp phk at phk.freebsd.dk
Fri Apr 8 10:23:27 PDT 2005


In message <4256B3EF.5090702 at errno.com>, Sam Leffler writes:

>I agree with bde.  One major distinction I've noticed between Linux and 
>BSD systems is that Linux uses sysctls (aka /proc) in lieu of user-mode 
>tools that retrieve and format data.  While this is a reasonable 
>approach when you're distributing only a kernel that's not the case 
>here.  For debug info I can buy doing it (e.g. single user and no apps 
>from src/tools), but otherwise we're just adding stuff to the kernel 
>that belongs in apps.

The reason I disagree is that the amount of code it takes to convert
the data to an export format and the overhead of having a program in
userspace format it into text is ridiculous compared to just formatting
things in the kernel to begin with.

And besides, a formatted sysctl has no binary compatibility issues at
all.  I like that too.

-- 
Poul-Henning Kamp       | UNIX since Zilog Zeus 3.20
phk at FreeBSD.ORG         | TCP/IP since RFC 956
FreeBSD committer       | BSD since 4.3-tahoe    
Never attribute to malice what can adequately be explained by incompetence.


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