> My point though is that the file system semantics have been static for
> 20 years. It is time for them to change. When they change NFS will
Why?
brake is in the middle in all cars for 20 years. Lets move it to the
right.
See?
I do not see a reason why to introduce directory-looks-like-file thing
that will break everything.
Yes I see why #iwannaseethisdirectoryasafile suffix would be usefull
for turning directories into files.
Just don't allow me to do cat /usr/src/linux and get .tar file. I did
not request it. However cat /usr/src/linux#tar and getting tar file is
acceptable (and will not break anything).
You'll confuse users, and you'll confuse them _badly_. What is find /
-type f expected to print?
Ok, doing some tricks with modifying times of directories when its
subdirs are accessed may make sense. (And I believe it would be pretty
innocent.) Doing cat on directory and getting some file in
it. Well. It might be acceptable, also. But what do you think tools
like emacs or less will do? They will not even try to open it -
because they _know_ it is directory.
I think that going with suffixes is much better/easier. You want to
see directory as #tar file? Just add suffix. Emacs will
stat("/etc#tar"), see that it is file, and behave accordingly.
If you try to do it so that open("/etc") works - it will not help
you. Emacs will stat() it first (because it knows about directories -
try it), and then open it in directory mode, anyway.
Pavel
PS: Take avfs. It makes it easy for you to try almost any semantic
changes (if you preload it). You'll not destroy your system this
way. Try your changes. Learn that they do not work. I did play this
way. Applications are much too clever. What do you think emacs will do
when you emacs ftp://bug/etc/passwd? open
( "/home/pavel/ftp:/bug/etc/passwd" ). And so on.
-- I'm really pavel@ucw.cz. Look at http://195.113.31.123/~pavel. Pavel Hi! I'm a .signature virus! Copy me into your ~/.signature, please!- To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-kernel" in the body of a message to majordomo@vger.rutgers.edu Please read the FAQ at http://www.tux.org/lkml/