From: hpa@merle.acns.nwu.edu (H. Peter Anvin N9ITP) Subject: Re: The Linux Device List Date: Wed, 28 Apr 1993 02:01:48 GMT
In article <C65Iv9.Gx2@news.cso.uiuc.edu> of comp.os.linux,
tinsel@uiuc.edu writes:
> s.telford@ed.ac.uk (Scott Telford) writes:
>
> > I agree. Also tty00 is too much like tty0 for them not to be confused
> > sooner or later (what about stuff like ps which munges tty IDs
> > somewhat?). Personally, I like SunOS 4-style tty[abcd] devices for
> > the 4 standard ports, and to keep things simple tty[f-z] for multiport
> > devices (nobody wants >22 terminals, do they? 8-), or maybe some other
> > scheme for multiport cards, such as tty<x><n>, where x is some letter
> > indicating a multiport card, and n is the port number. But don't some
> > programs (eg. finger) assume that there are at most 2 chars after the
> > "tty"?
>
> Yes, please. This makes more sense than ttyS0, a _lot_ more sense that
> tty00, and looks better besides.
Yes, the problem with that is that the different cards are assigned
minor numbers in different ranges in the 64-127 space. That is the
reason for using a card/port naming scheme in the first place, to
avoid large holes in the range.
I would, however, argue that /dev/tty00 etc are just *way* too similar
to the VTcon naming scheme, especially if you have 12 or 24 VTcons.
Hence I suggest /dev/tty[a-o][0-9a-f] for serial ports, possibly with
the reservation of /dev/tty[a-d] for the standard COM ports.
> Also, why are there two entries for a second AT-interface hard drive
> controller? It is listed under major device three with the first
> controller (/dev/hdc[0-8] and /dev/hdd[0-8]), but also under major 22
> as (/dev/hd1a[0-8] and /dev/hda1b[0-8]). Which one does current
> driver use? Or, are there two drivers available, and each one works a
> different way. If so, perhaps they should use the same device names,
> anyway, for compatability. In any case, I prefer the first naming
> scheme.
Agreed. And there shouldn't really be any reason to use two halves of
two major numbers, either.
/hpa
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