Re: Nape Pipes Feedback (WAS: Re: Linux-1.3.81)

Matthias Urlichs (smurf@smurf.noris.de)
Fri, 5 Apr 1996 06:23:44 +0100

In linux.dev.kernel, article <m0u4uaT-000EIQC@freya.yggdrasil.com>,
Bill Bogstad <bogstad@blaze.cs.jhu.edu> writes:
>=20
> You are looking at this from the perspective of a software hacker
> trying to maintain the purity of the system. An end-user doesn't car=
e why
> the package they just bought for too much money won't work at the sam=
e time
> as the other package they just bought for even more money. They'll j=
ust give

If there is even minimal support for the package, you should be able to=
get
a trivial fix for the problem (open the pipe with O_RDWR).

It is simply wrong for software to depend on undocumented and volatile
"features" of the operating system (and C library). That includes the
precise behavior of half-closed pipes, what the library does when you
free() something twice, and a whole lot of other things.

> kill it, SunOS is still one of the most popular flavors of Unix in th=
e world
> and we should be trying to encourage developers for that system to po=
rt to
> Linux. Not setting up hidden traps for the unwary...
>=20
So document it..?

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