devfs doesn't set access rights

[Brooks Davis]

On Tue, Dec 13, 2005 at 10:31:21PM +0100, Roland Smith wrote:
> On Tue, Dec 13, 2005 at 12:55:39PM -0800, Brooks Davis wrote:
> <snip>
> > > What's wrong with the EXAMPLES section in devfs(8)?
> > 
> > It's fine.  Referring to devfs(8) was poor word choice on my part.  I
> > meant the system as a whole including devfs.rules.
> > 
> > > > any documentation of the rc.conf variables
> > > > (which also aren't documented in rc.conf(5) either), and any mention of
> > > > that the purpose or usage of lines like:
> > > > 
> > > > [devfsrules_unhide_basic=2]
> > > 
> > > See devfs.rules(5), third para of DESCRIPTION. I agree it could use an
> > > example, and some explanation that you have to enable the ruleset in
> > > /etc/rc.conf.
> > 
> > That's quite easy to miss.  I saw the bit about comments and my eyes
> > glazed over and skipped the rest.  Breaking out the paragraph into
> > bullets might be an improvement.
> > 
> > > There is an example on my website:
> > > http://www.xs4all.nl/~rsmith/freebsd/#hotplug 
> > >
> > > Following is a patch for devfs.rules.5. Comments? Otherwise I'll submit it.
> > 
> > Content looks good to me.
> <snip>
> > From looking in rc.conf(5), I think this should be:
> > 
> > .Pa /etc/rc.conf :
> > .Bd -literal
> > devfs_system_ruleset="localrules"
> > .Ed
> 
> Ok, I'll incorporate that, and send-pr it.

Great.

> > > +.Pp
> > >  To make all the
> > >  .Xr uscanner 4
> > >  devices accessible to their owner and the
> > > @@ -81,6 +95,7 @@
> > >  group, a similar rule may be used:
> > >  .Pp
> > >  .Dl "add path 'uscanner*' mode 0660 group usb"
> > > +.Pp
> > 
> > I think this is unnecessary.  It's certainly not common practice.
> 
> It's just another example.

I was referring to the .Pp before the .Sh below.

> > >  .Sh SEE ALSO
> > >  .Xr glob 3 ,
> > >  .Xr devfs 5 ,
> > > ------------------ devfs.rules.5 patch --------------------------
> > > 
> > > > Setting the mode of a device node really ought to be trivial, but last
> > > > time I looked at it I was clearly missing something and couldn't get it
> > > > working.  I decided the device in question really ought to be attached
> > > > at boot and thus gave up and used devfs.conf since I had productive
> > > > work to do.  Some cook easy to use cookbook example would be really
> > > > helpful for those who don't have time to figure out all the details.
> > > 
> > > Maybe my freebsd page can help. Most of the things I learned while
> > > configuring FreeBSD are documented here.
> > > 
> > > http://www.xs4all.nl/~rsmith/freebsd
> > 
> > The example you site looks like excellent handbook fodder.
> 
> Do you want to submit it? I won't have time to do it before mid-januari
> at least.
>  
> > > > Comparativly few people will want to do anything more than make a device
> > > > or two more accessable.
> > > 
> > > Agreed. But the mechanism is more general because devfs can be used in
> > > multiple places (e.g. jails).
> > 
> > Definitely.  The full features look quite cool and useful.  My concern is
> > simply that it's easy to find out how to do the common thing without
> > having to understand all the complex things you can do.  Thanks for
> > writing this manpage and working to improve it!
> 
> Thanks! Actually, my motivation for writing the manpages was to stop the
> tide of "how do I configure devfs" postings on -questions.
> 
> Unfortunately, once you understand the details of the system well enough
> to document it, some of the details will seem so obvious that you don't
> document them. :-)

Yes, that's always a problem.  I haven't mastered the necessary
xen-like state where I can forget what I know when I'm reading my own
work. :)

-- Brooks

-- 
Any statement of the form "X is the one, true Y" is FALSE.
PGP fingerprint 655D 519C 26A7 82E7 2529  9BF0 5D8E 8BE9 F238 1AD4
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