#include <std_disclaimer.h>
On Apr 1, 2005 10:32 PM, Andy Sy <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Dean wrote:
> Only problems I could think of would be caching, file-seek
> operations, and locking mechanisms. Sockets bound to files,
> fifo's, mmaped files originating from a remote FTP filesystem
> are just some of the problems that would be dealt with -- just
> off the top of my head.
First thing I would do is study how VFS works and worry about
these other hairy stuff later. Or perhaps check out these
filesystem-in-userland projects:
http://www.goop.org/~jeremy/userfs/
http://fuse.sourceforge.net/
http://atrey.karlin.mff.cuni.cz/~machek/podfuk/podfuk.html
My main qualm about VFS magic to make remote filesystems look local is that it makes users forget that the filesystem is remote-- which means that the code has to do all this black magic to make sure that the remote filesystem acts local. I mean, especially with FTP or anything over the Internet, you'd probably be better off *knowing* that the filesystem is remote, because having the VFS (i.e. either through any userspace magic or through some FS modules) hide that from you might be dangerous. For example, what if you write a file into an FTP server exposed as a local filesystem and the connectivity between you and the server goes down? At least with an FTP client you know that you're dealing with something remote and you know the limitations of the protocol, etc. If the VFS hides that from you, then IMHO you might lose data.
Then again, that's a tradeoff for convenience... ;)
--
JM Ibanez --
A good world needs knowledge, kindliness, and courage; it does
not need a regretful hankering after the past or a fettering of the
free intelligence by the words uttered long ago by ignorant men.
-- Bertrand Russell
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