4 ms·

Consistency is great, but there’s a trade off between consistency and innovation. In a sense, what you’re describing is stagnation.

moviuro 8y ago
OpenBSD's ifconfig did not stagnate. It handles aliases, bridges, wifi, etc. No, the issue is that no one at GNU or Linux cares about correct, simple tools (2 APIs for networking in the kernel?! What happened to manpages?! WTF info?). And thanks to that it runs on anything. Pick your poison https://man.openbsd.org/ifconfig.8 https://man.openbsd.org/ifconfig.8
- JdeBP 8y ago
  net-tools is not a GNU software package, note. * https://sourceforge.net/projects/net-tools/ https://sourceforge.net/projects/net-tools/ * https://www.gnu.org/software/software.html https://www.gnu.org/software/software.html
- rkeene2 8y ago
  I'm not sure what the point you are making here is. The developers behind "ifconfig" on Linux could support the new API (iproute2) just as the developers behind "ifconfig" on OpenBSD updated their software to support the new kernel API as they became available.
  - drewg123 8y ago
    The point is that in the BSDs, ifconfig is developed and released together with the kernel. See, for example, https://svnweb.freebsd.org/base?view=revision&revision=312379 https://svnweb.freebsd.org/base?view=revision&revision=31237..., where the author added support for hardware packet pacing. The commit touches ifconfig, socket header files, and various parts of the kernel all in one atomic change.
    - rkeene2 8y ago
      So, if I'm understanding this correctly, your point is that Linux is a kernel ? Haven't we moved past this ?
    - digi_owl 8y ago
      Nothing stops anyone from offering patches to multiple projects to sync development. Hell, some of the biggest changes crossing the kernel/userspace divide have just that.
rootbear 8y ago
It's not stagnation if the majority system (Linux) makes an effort to reach consensus with the minority systems (*BSD) on changes and improvements. It is unclear to me that that happens to any meaningful degree.

moviuro 8y ago

OpenBSD's ifconfig did not stagnate. It handles aliases, bridges, wifi, etc. No, the issue is that no one at GNU or Linux cares about correct, simple tools (2 APIs for networking in the kernel?! What happened to manpages?! WTF info?). And thanks to that it runs on anything. Pick your poison https://man.openbsd.org/ifconfig.8 https://man.openbsd.org/ifconfig.8

JdeBP 8y ago
net-tools is not a GNU software package, note. * https://sourceforge.net/projects/net-tools/ https://sourceforge.net/projects/net-tools/ * https://www.gnu.org/software/software.html https://www.gnu.org/software/software.html
rkeene2 8y ago
I'm not sure what the point you are making here is. The developers behind "ifconfig" on Linux could support the new API (iproute2) just as the developers behind "ifconfig" on OpenBSD updated their software to support the new kernel API as they became available.
- drewg123 8y ago
  The point is that in the BSDs, ifconfig is developed and released together with the kernel. See, for example, https://svnweb.freebsd.org/base?view=revision&revision=312379 https://svnweb.freebsd.org/base?view=revision&revision=31237..., where the author added support for hardware packet pacing. The commit touches ifconfig, socket header files, and various parts of the kernel all in one atomic change.
  - rkeene2 8y ago
    So, if I'm understanding this correctly, your point is that Linux is a kernel ? Haven't we moved past this ?
  - digi_owl 8y ago
    Nothing stops anyone from offering patches to multiple projects to sync development. Hell, some of the biggest changes crossing the kernel/userspace divide have just that.

rootbear 8y ago

It's not stagnation if the majority system (Linux) makes an effort to reach consensus with the minority systems (*BSD) on changes and improvements. It is unclear to me that that happens to any meaningful degree.