Re: [linux-usb-devel] [RFC PATCH] debugfs - yet another in-kernel file system

From: David Brownell (david-b_at_pacbell.net)
Date: 12/11/04

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    To: linux-usb-devel@lists.sourceforge.net
Date:	Fri, 10 Dec 2004 17:29:01 -0800

    On Thursday 09 December 2004 4:50 pm, Greg KH wrote:
    > What if there was a in-kernel filesystem that was explicitly just for
    > putting debugging stuff?  Some place other than proc and sysfs, and that
    > was easier than both of them to use.  Yet it needed to also be able to
    > handle complex stuff like seq file and raw file_ops if needed.

    The problem with sysfs here is: no seq_file support.
    Otherwise it solves the basic "where to put the debug
    files associated with "device X" or "driver Y" problems
    in a good non-confusing way: there are directories
    already set up for devices and for drivers.

    The problem with procfs here is that it doesn't have
    such a naming solution: there's no automatic mapping
    betwen a /proc/driver/...file and its device, or vice
    versa. That issue is shared with debugfs.

    Couldn't debugfs just be a thin shim on top of sysfs,
    adding seq_file support? Or on top of procfs, adding
    device/driver naming domains, and maybe file-per-value
    read/write support for drivers that want them?

    What I'd really want out of a debug file API is to resolve
    the naming issues, work with seq_file, and "softly and
    silently vanish away". I think this patch has the last
    two, but not the first one!

    - Dave
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  • Next message: Greg KH: "Re: [Announce] Squashfs 2.1 released (compressed filesystem)"

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