On Sun, 25 Jun 2000 ferret@phonewave.net wrote:
> I'll also try to find the post about Linus' rant on this subject.
This used to be in the Debian doc directory, but I think it has since been
removed.
It seems to me that I remember reading that the glibc people have since
changed glibc to the point that it doesn't really use the kernel headers
for its public interface.
It used to be that simple things like the size of the FD_SET bitmask used
kernel headers. This resulted in the kernel saying the max size was some
number and libc being compiled with a different one, that breaks the C
library :> In the glibc FAQ is an example using the sigset_t type:
>For example, the sigset_t type is 32 or 64 bits wide in the kernel. In
>glibc it is 1024 bits wide. This guarantees that when the kernel gets a
>bigger sigset_t (for POSIX.1e realtime support, say) user programs will
>not have to be recompiled. Consult the header files for more information
>about the changes.
Depending on how completely the glibc people have isolated the C library
from the kernel defines this may or may not be entirely a moot point.
I still think there is value for including a known, constant set of
headers with the C library, it maintains a more consistent build
environment that won't vary from system to system.
Jason
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