Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!tektronix!orca!tekecs!frip!andrew
From: andrew@frip.gwd.tek.com (Andrew Klossner)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.wizards
Subject: Re: Bigger process IDs and "dev_t"s (was: Re: RISC v. CISC...)
Message-ID: <10589@tekecs.TEK.COM>
Date: 8 Nov 88 16:56:41 GMT
References: <156@gloom.UUCP> <6865@winchester.mips.COM> <468@oracle.UUCP> <314@auspex.UUCP> <1988Oct31.183021.13880@utzoo.uucp> <385@auspex.UUCP> <1988Nov7.190335.17023@utzoo.uucp>
Sender: andrew@tekecs.TEK.COM
Organization: Tektronix, Wilsonville, Oregon
Lines: 16

[]

	"I'm afraid that I do assert that this is just Sun being
	wasteful, for the sake of its own convenience.  How many
	machines do you know that actually have all 56 types of devices
	on them?  None, I bet.  Using the same major number for device
	XYZ across all machines is basically an administrative
	convenience, not a logical necessity."

Think about diskless nodes with devices.  The /dev file must live on
the server, so it's a BIG convenience if the major number is uniform
across all Suns.  You could work around it, sure, but why introduce
such confusion?

  -=- Andrew Klossner   (uunet!tektronix!tekecs!frip!andrew)    [UUCP]
                        (andrew%frip.gwd.tek.com@relay.cs.net)  [ARPA]