On Monday, 24 January 2000 at 10:04:10 +0100, Jeroen Ruigrok/Asmodai wrote:
> -On [20000124 08:01], Mike Smith ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) wrote:
>>> I can't agree with Mike Smith that reading the code is adequate. It
>>> certainly doesn't apply to newcomers, but it doesn't even apply to
>>> seasoned hackers like Mike: the BSD style doesn't provide for adequate
>>> comments, and so what you see from the code is mainly tactics, not
>>> strategy.
>>
>> You miss my point; you don't want to be writing a driver until you know
>> what you're doing. Documentation on an OS' driver interface won't teach
>> you that; it's something that's really only ever gleaned from experience.
>
> This I agree on with Mike. Writing device drivers isn't like
> writing an application.
In this respect, it is: I understand Mike to be saying "you can't
learn by reading, you learn by doing".
> The documentation I am writing will definately not be a tutorial
> style piece of documentation, but a reference guide with sufficient
> background material so that people a bit familiar with FreeBSD on
> source level (note the ``a bit'') will get enough ideas and clues
> from it to proceed forwards.
I think it would benefit from tutorial style. That wouldn't be
enough, but defining the workspace would make people a lot more
comfortable.
> I do not think making it a tutorial will be beneficial in the long run,
> since I would have to discuss kernel sources, gdb, ddb and a number of
> other things on the side.
And that's a bad idea? I'd disagree.
> I just know, from experience, that writing a driver involves more
> than just code.
Definitely. And that's one thing you've got to tell the newcomers.
Greg
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