NetBSD Problem Report #38724

From he@smistad.uninett.no  Wed May 21 20:21:33 2008
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Date: Wed, 21 May 2008 22:21:38 +0200 (CEST)
From: he@NetBSD.org
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To: gnats-bugs@gnats.NetBSD.org
Subject: Kernel modules installed in inappropriate directory tree
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>Number:         38724
>Category:       misc
>Synopsis:       Kernel modules installed in inappropriate directory tree
>Confidential:   no
>Severity:       non-critical
>Priority:       medium
>Responsible:    misc-bug-people
>State:          closed
>Class:          sw-bug
>Submitter-Id:   net
>Arrival-Date:   Wed May 21 20:25:00 +0000 2008
>Closed-Date:    Thu May 26 03:18:53 +0000 2022
>Last-Modified:  Thu May 26 03:18:53 +0000 2022
>Originator:     Havard Eidnes
>Release:        NetBSD-current (4.99.63 as of today)
>Organization:
	I try...
>Environment:
Host System: NetBSD quattro.urc.uninett.no 3.1_STABLE NetBSD 3.1_STABLE (QUATTRO) #1: Tue Nov 21 02:34:49 CET 2006  he@quattro.urc.uninett.no:/usr/obj/sys/arch/i386/compile/QUATTRO i386
Architecture: i386
Machine: i386
>Description:
	The new kernel modules are installed in

	/stand/$MACHINE/$OS_VERSION/modules/

	directory tree, i.e. below /stand/.

	I claim that this is an inappropriate place to store these
	files.  The justification for my claim is hier(7):

     /stand/    programs used in a standalone environment

	I interpret this to mean that files in /stand/ are programs
	suitable to be executed on the "bare metal" of the machine
	(possibly in the firmware environment), but at least *not*
	within an OS kernel.  "stand" implies "standalone", which
	again implies "no OS kernel".  If I understand correctly, the
	new kernel modules do not fit into this category.

	Admittedly, as far as I know, we don't currently install any
	such programs in /stand/, but the argument still stands.


	So, what remains is to come up with a better suggestion for
	the file tree to store these in.

	/kernel/	Could be annoying due to tab-expansion and the
			existence of /kern.
	/kmod/		One possible alternative?  One more entry in
			the toplevel directory, though.
	/lib/modules/	They're really not libraries...

	I'm not married to either idea; more suggestions are welcome.
	However, the abuse of /stand/ has to stop. 1/2 :-)

>How-To-Repeat:
	Inspect the result of a fresh build.

>Fix:
	Set lists and bsd.kmodule.mk needs updating when we agree on
	the new name.

>Release-Note:

>Audit-Trail:

State-Changed-From-To: open->closed
State-Changed-By: rmind@NetBSD.org
State-Changed-When: Sat, 24 Jan 2009 00:30:05 +0000
State-Changed-Why:
Changed to "/kernel".


State-Changed-From-To: closed->open
State-Changed-By: dholland@NetBSD.org
State-Changed-When: Sat, 24 Jan 2009 23:28:47 +0000
State-Changed-Why:
Change was reverted, because there's no agreement yet on what the place should
be.


State-Changed-From-To: open->closed
State-Changed-By: dholland@NetBSD.org
State-Changed-When: Thu, 26 May 2022 03:18:53 +0000
State-Changed-Why:
We have been using /stand for several releases now, and while I agree it's
problematic, the reason nobody's managed to gather momentum behind anything
else is that all the other options are also wrong.

At this point if we want to change it we still can (though it'll be a
nuisance) but it'll have to be done by gathering momentum in the mailing
lists. Having an old PR open on the subject doesn't move this forward;
possibly the reverse.

(for the record: I favor /plugins/kernel)


>Unformatted:

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