(was slashes, now NFS devices)

[peter da silva]

In article <FWP1.91Mar6183505 at ra.CC.MsState.Edu>, fwp1 at CC.MsState.Edu (Frank Peters) writes:
> In article <GLX9W24 at xds13.ferranti.com> peter at ficc.ferranti.com (Peter da Silva) writes:
> > In article <FWP1.91Feb23160240 at Jester.CC.MsState.Edu> fwp1 at CC.MsState.Edu (Frank Peters) writes:
> >> 1. NFS is designed to be operating system independant while RFS
> >>    assumes UNIX on both ends of the connection.

> > OpenNET lets you do things like accessing a named pipe from DOS. If
> > anything operating system independence would seem to imply that file
> > semantics should be interpreted in the server.

> Nope.  The date in a /dev file is just that...data.

But *what* is the data in the device file? You're basically saying it's
simply the major and minor device numbers. I'm saying it's what you read
from that device.

> If the client is
> a UNIX box with the sense to interpret that data as a "device pointer"
> (for want of a better term) then they get to use it.  Thats just what
> a diskless workstation does.

This is a solution that makes sense for "diskless workstations". I have some
question as to whether diskless workstations are a good idea in the first
place, but a better solution would be to create a RAM-based file system
that simply contained "/" and "/dev", the way the HP Integral did things.
This way you get the diskless workstation without breaking remote file
systems for device files.

> I won't claim this is the way it must be done.  I will claim though
> that it is a reasonable thing to do.

The question of whether it's "reasonable" is obviously answered by the fact
that it works, and works well enough to satisfy people. The question I'm
considering, though, is whether it's the best solution.

> If you want remote device access I really think one of the other
> systems would be a better start.

Probably so. Unfortunately NFS is pretty firmly ingrained.
-- 
Peter da Silva.  `-_-'  peter at ferranti.com
+1 713 274 5180.  'U`  "Have you hugged your wolf today?"