From owner-freebsd-arch@FreeBSD.ORG Mon Oct 22 02:22:40 2007 Return-Path: Delivered-To: arch@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [IPv6:2001:4f8:fff6::34]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 6D70916A421 for ; Mon, 22 Oct 2007 02:22:40 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from xcllnt@mac.com) Received: from smtpoutm.mac.com (smtpoutm.mac.com [17.148.16.70]) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 6213A13C4A6 for ; Mon, 22 Oct 2007 02:22:39 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from xcllnt@mac.com) Received: from mac.com (asmtp001-s [10.150.69.64]) by smtpoutm.mac.com (Xserve/smtpout007/MantshX 4.0) with ESMTP id l9L0md6V021884 for ; Sat, 20 Oct 2007 17:48:39 -0700 (PDT) Received: from [172.23.9.248] (nat-service4.juniper.net [66.129.225.151]) (authenticated bits=0) by mac.com (Xserve/asmtp001/MantshX 4.0) with ESMTP id l9L0mZpZ016919 (version=TLSv1/SSLv3 cipher=AES128-SHA bits=128 verify=NO) for ; Sat, 20 Oct 2007 17:48:37 -0700 (PDT) Mime-Version: 1.0 (Apple Message framework v752.3) Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Message-Id: <3AFF99A0-FE59-411F-94DC-D20071B211AB@mac.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed To: arch@freebsd.org From: Marcel Moolenaar Date: Sat, 20 Oct 2007 17:47:48 -0700 X-Mailer: Apple Mail (2.752.3) Cc: Subject: Removal of gpt(8) X-BeenThere: freebsd-arch@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list List-Id: Discussion related to FreeBSD architecture List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Mon, 22 Oct 2007 02:22:40 -0000 All, I'd like to remove gpt(8) from -CURRENT in the very near future (i.e. next coming weeks) and at the same time mark it obsolete in RELENG_7. If there are any objections, speak up. The background: gpt(8) was created just before the GEOM OAM API was added to GEOM. This resulted in usability issues when direct access to the underlying disk was disallowed by default. Ever since that time, gpt(8) could not be used to add or remove partitions when some other partition had a mounted file system in it. The solution was simple: Use the GEOM OAM API (ctlreq interface). Over the last 2 year the task of adding OAM support in GPT evolved into a generic partitioning class with corresponding tool according to the latest trends and standards. The generic partitioning tool currently support APM, GPT and, in a restricted form, MBR. While the generic partitioning tool needs further work to support all known partitioning schemes and support them fully, it's functionally complete for APM and GPT. The time is here to let go of the past, remove gpt(8) and commit to using gpart(8) and flesh it out further. -- Marcel Moolenaar xcllnt@mac.com