From 10a479f5e6df7010a47f1edfab8173de85a34d0d Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: "greg@kroah.com" Date: Wed, 10 Dec 2003 00:37:02 -0800 Subject: [PATCH] [PATCH] update the FAQ due to the latest devfs mess on lkml and also due to symlinks now working. --- FAQ | 23 ++++++++++++++++++----- 1 file changed, 18 insertions(+), 5 deletions(-) diff --git a/FAQ b/FAQ index c082a5bec..d9aebde0d 100644 --- a/FAQ +++ b/FAQ @@ -31,12 +31,25 @@ Q: But udev will not automatically load a driver if a /dev node is opened A: If you really require this functionality, then use devfs. It is still present in the kernel. -Q: But I really like the devfs naming scheme, will udev do that? +Q: But wait, I really want udev to automatically load drivers when they + are not present but the device node is opened. It's the only reason I + like using devfs. Please make udev do this. +A: No. udev is for managing /dev, not loading kernel drivers. + +Q: Oh come on, pretty please. It can't be that hard to do. +A: Such a functionality isn't needed on a properly configured system. All + devices present on the system should generate hotplug events, loading + the appropriate driver, and udev will notice and create the + appropriate device node. If you don't want to keep all drivers for your + hardware in memory, then use something else to manage your modules + (scripts, modules.conf, etc.) This is not a task for udev. + +Q: I really like the devfs naming scheme, will udev do that? A: Yes, udev can create /dev nodes using the devfs naming policy. A configuration file needs to be created to map the kernel default names - to the devfs names. Such a configuration file would be gladly added to - the udev package if it is provided by anyone who can create such a - mapping. + to the devfs names. See the initial udev.conf.devfs file in the udev + release. It is the start of such a configuration file. If there are + any things missing, please let the udev authors know. Q: What kinds of devices does udev create nodes for? A: All devices that are shown in sysfs will work with udev. If more @@ -51,7 +64,7 @@ A: udev is entirely in userspace. If the kernel supports a greater number of anonymous devices, udev will support it. Q: Will udev support symlinks? -A: Yes, patches are gladly accepted to add this functionality. +A: Yes, It now does. Multiple symlinks per device node too. Q: How will udev support changes to device permissions? A: On shutdown, udev will save the state of existing device permissions to -- 2.30.2