Re: LINUX is obsolete Linux Inside
[Prev][Next][Index][Thread]

Re: LINUX is obsolete



 In article <1992Jan30.013643.3248@menudo.uh.edu>, by kevin@nuchat.sccsi.com (Kevin Brown):
  
 > The *entire* system call interface in Minix needs to be rethought.  As it
 > stands right now, the file system is not just a file system, it's also a
 > system-call server.  That functionality needs to be separated out in order
 > to facilitate a multiple file system architecture.  Message passing is
 > probably the right way to go about making the call and waiting for it, but
 > the message should go to a system call server, not the file system itself.
 > 
 > In order to handle all the special caveats of the Unix API, you end up writing
 > a monolithic "kernel" even if you're using a microkernel base.  You end up
 > with something called a "server", and an example is the BSD server that runs
 > under Mach.
 > 
 > And, in any case, the message-passing in Minix needs to be completely redone.
 > As it is, it's a kludge.  I've been giving this some thought, but I haven't
 > had time to do anything with what I've thought of so far.  Suffice it to say
 > that the proper way to do message-passing is probably with message ports
 > (both public and private), with the various visible parts of the operating
 > system having public message ports.  Chances are, that ends up being the
 > system call server only, though this will, of course, depend on the goals
 > of the design.
  
 It gets to sound more and more like Tripos and the Amiga :-)
 
 Allan Duncan	ACSnet	 aduncan@trl.oz
 (+613) 541 6708	Internet aduncan@trl.oz.au
 		UUCP	 {uunet,hplabs,ukc}!munnari!trl.oz.au!aduncan
 Telecom Research Labs, PO Box 249, Clayton, Victoria, 3168, Australia.