> The whole idea with ascii free-style strings in the /proc files is that
> it allows a program to work even without the traditional fixed-size
> binary structure mess. But it _does_ mean that to take full advantage
> of this, the program that reads it shouldn't have too fixed an idea
> about the actual format of the file. The less fixed formats, the
> better, in fact.
>
> Linus
I REALLY like the ASCII files, too. But maybe for programs it would be
better to add "tagged" data types (like its being done in OSI's Basic
Encoding Rules, or DHCP (RFC 1533)). Maybe we can have an ASCII version of
that?
The described encoding would cause old programs to ignore new data
elements they don't understand, but they still can skip unknown elements.
Also, individual elements can be rearranged (order does not matter).
------------
Ulrich Windl Klinikum der Universitaet Regensburg
Rechenzentrum DV-med Franz-Josef-Strauss-Allee 11
Tel: +49 941 944-5879 D-93053 Regensburg
FAX: +49 941 944-5882
Politics: It's forbidden to use PGP, but it's allowed to test
nuclear bombs on other peoples' territory.