Date: Tue, 25 Jan 2000 10:58:26 +0800 From: Greg Lehey <grog@lemis.com> To: Jeroen Ruigrok/Asmodai <asmodai@wxs.nl> Cc: Mike Smith <msmith@FreeBSD.ORG>, Bill Maniatty <maniattb@cs.rpi.edu>, FreeBSD-doc@FreeBSD.ORG, maniatty@cs.albany.edu, freebsd-hackers@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: Learning the FreeBSD Kernel Message-ID: <20000125105825.B4775@mojave.worldwide.lemis.com> In-Reply-To: <20000124100410.A691@daemon.ninth-circle.org>; from asmodai@wxs.nl on Mon, Jan 24, 2000 at 10:04:10AM %2B0100 References: <20000124123920.F2643@mojave.worldwide.lemis.com> <200001240635.WAA10110@mass.cdrom.com> <20000124100410.A691@daemon.ninth-circle.org>
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On Monday, 24 January 2000 at 10:04:10 +0100, Jeroen Ruigrok/Asmodai wrote: > -On [20000124 08:01], Mike Smith (msmith@freebsd.org) wrote: >>> I can't agree with Mike Smith that reading the code is adequate. It >>> certainly doesn't apply to newcomers, but it doesn't even apply to >>> seasoned hackers like Mike: the BSD style doesn't provide for adequate >>> comments, and so what you see from the code is mainly tactics, not >>> strategy. >> >> You miss my point; you don't want to be writing a driver until you know >> what you're doing. Documentation on an OS' driver interface won't teach >> you that; it's something that's really only ever gleaned from experience. > > This I agree on with Mike. Writing device drivers isn't like > writing an application. In this respect, it is: I understand Mike to be saying "you can't learn by reading, you learn by doing". > The documentation I am writing will definately not be a tutorial > style piece of documentation, but a reference guide with sufficient > background material so that people a bit familiar with FreeBSD on > source level (note the ``a bit'') will get enough ideas and clues > from it to proceed forwards. I think it would benefit from tutorial style. That wouldn't be enough, but defining the workspace would make people a lot more comfortable. > I do not think making it a tutorial will be beneficial in the long run, > since I would have to discuss kernel sources, gdb, ddb and a number of > other things on the side. And that's a bad idea? I'd disagree. > I just know, from experience, that writing a driver involves more > than just code. Definitely. And that's one thing you've got to tell the newcomers. Greg -- Finger grog@lemis.com for PGP public key See complete headers for address and phone numbers To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-hackers" in the body of the message
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