One suggestion I'd like to make is this: Keep any System Information
(SI) program highly configurable, as far as what it reads to get the
information. If this is not done, I am envisioning an SI which needs
to be updated everytime something in the kernel changes, which causes
a change inthe formatting of the /proc/* file format. If we have
something along the lines of the /etc/magic file, then we can key on
particular field name, or file position, and find the data that way.
If the proc file changes, then all that needs to be fixed in the SI is
a change to the config file. I know this complicates the design quite
a bit, but it save a lot of maintenance down the road.
Here's some flame bait: How about reformatting the /proc files so they
appear more like /proc/cpuinfo? Each item and its associated value is
on a separate line. It seems to me this would make it easier to write
an SI that has to "feel around" for the values in a changing /proc
file (changing per kernel revision). The SI could probably use all
the /proc files as they are, but to make it flexible enough to keep up
with file changes, the SI would have to use scripts or very complex
file description language to define the location of the information
it's looking for. I don't think something like that would be easy for
the average kernel consumer to maintain. I realize this would make
some of the /proc files less readable, but they wouldn 't have to be:
we would use the SI for that. Just a thought.
- ---
Andrew C. Esh mailto:andrew_esh@cnt.com
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