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Date:      Wed, 27 Nov 1996 12:53:26 -0700
From:      Sean Kelly <kelly@fsl.noaa.gov>
To:        Christoph Kukulies <kuku@gilberto.physik.rwth-aachen.de>
Cc:        freebsd-hackers@freefall.freebsd.org
Subject:   Re: devfs - for what is it useful
Message-ID:  <329C9C36.2A04@fsl.noaa.gov>
References:  <199611271912.UAA07098@gilberto.physik.rwth-aachen.de>

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Christoph Kukulies wrote:

> What is it good for?

I've never used DEVFS myself (yet---still running 2.1.5), but I think it
fixes a specific problem (which I believe is even cited in _The Unix
Hater's Handbook_):

   You never have to run the MAKEDEV script again.

(Heck, you won't even need a MAKEDEV script.)

Having entries in /dev for devices which aren't in your kernel is
silly.  Not having entries in /dev for devices you do have is even more
silly.  DEVFS fixes this.  Also, the /dev entries can appear and
disappear automatically for LKMs.  Pretty spiffy stuff.

-- 
Sean Kelly                          
NOAA Forecast Systems Laboratory    kelly@fsl.noaa.gov
Boulder Colorado USA                http://www-sdd.fsl.noaa.gov/~kelly/



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