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From: gsf@ulysses.homer.nj.att.com (Glenn Fowler[drew])
Newsgroups: comp.unix.wizards
Subject: Re: What kinds of things would you want in the GNU OS?
Keywords: GNU OS features kernel fun!
Message-ID: <11600@ulysses.homer.nj.att.com>
Date: 26 May 89 14:26:58 GMT
References: <106326@sun.Eng.Sun.COM> <4315@ficc.uu.net> <338@arc.UUCP> <7439@bsu-cs.bsu.edu>
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill
Lines: 15

In article <7439@bsu-cs.bsu.edu>, dhesi@bsu-cs.bsu.edu (Rahul Dhesi) writes:
> I suggest finding a better syntax for root than "/".  It can lead to
> filenames containing // and it takes special case code [note 1] to
> handle such filenames.  And some systems want // to mean something
> special.

I suggest finding a better name for network root than "//".  We already
have a consistent name space, why complicate it with new syntax.  A
compatible name for network files could be "/n/machine/goop"
(not my invention, used in V9).  Better yet, this allows machine hops
without the ambiguities introduced by special leading character syntax:
"/n/bambi/n/thumper/goop" vs. "//bambi//thumper/goop".
-- 
Glenn Fowler    (201)-582-2195    AT&T Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill, NJ
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