Path: utzoo!utgpu!attcan!lsuc!eci386!woods
From: woods@eci386.uucp (Greg Woods)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.wizards
Subject: Re: What kinds of things would you want in the GNU OS?
Summary: pathname syntax
Keywords: GNU OS features kernel fun!
Message-ID: <1989May26.224924.5293@eci386.uucp>
Date: 26 May 89 22:49:24 GMT
References: <106326@sun.Eng.Sun.COM> <4315@ficc.uu.net> <338@arc.UUCP> <7439@bsu-cs.bsu.edu>
Reply-To: woods@eci386.UUCP (Greg Woods)
Organization: R. H. Lathwell Associates: Elegant Communications, Inc.
Lines: 26

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.
> [....]
> Note 1.  UNIX handles // by assuming that there is a null filename
> component between the two slashes.  Unfortunately this allows legal
> filenames like /bin//cat and even /bin//////cat which, if a program is
> trying to parse pathanmes, is painful.

First, null directory components in pathnames are extremely easy
to parse, and are a desirable feature.  Second, a leading '//'
with a special meaning is a tremendous KLUDGE!  It's even worse
than "machine_A:/"!

I HOPE to see future distributed filesystems become (remain :-)
completely transparent ala RFS.  You should be able to mount any
(advertised) directory from any machine on the network anywhere
into your local filesystem hierarchy.
-- 
						Greg A. Woods

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