Kai Ponte wrote:
For example, I often use the Cisco VPN client to telecommute. It seems
that every few weeks - I guess when kernel update happens - the client
fails. I'm then forced to recompile.
In the case of a vpn client I would tend to agree, I see very little reason
for placing that inside the kernel
Incidentally (but I guess you know this) there is an ancient debate over
the relative merits of monolithic (i.e. do everything in kernel space) vs.
micro-kernels (kernels that do as little as possible in kernel space)
Yep!
In fact there's a beauty of a post with Mr. Torvalds arguing about it with
Andy Tannenbaum back in '91. I remember reading it in the late '90s when I
first switched to Linux on a few desktops and then my P133 laptop.
http://groups.google.com/group/comp.os.minix/browse_frm/thread/c25870d7a41696d2/3f6b594a5b4eccb4?lnk=st&q=&rnum=1#3f6b594a5b4eccb4
http://tinyurl.com/34ojmg
It usually ends up being a question of performance. For design, micro
kernels usually win hands down, while for performance, the micro kernels
haven't even reached the starting line when the monolithic kernels drink
the victory champagne
Yeah, it kind of reminds me of the old relational vs. hierarchical debate in
DBM systems.
The discussion is not quite dead :-) The HURD has stalled, but there are
some interesting developments: Minix 3, for instance (Linux was
originally based on Minix, as you may know). This paper is interesting
in this connexion.
http://minixonxen.skynet.ie/cgi-bin/trac.cgi/attachment/wiki/Report/Report.pdf?format=raw
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