I think I know this answer, but just to verify:
Is it acceptable to use functions like gethostbyname() inside of the
kernel?
Not only is it unacceptable, it simply won't work. :-)
Normally a userland function call should stay in userland, right?
Well what about in a thread like nfsiod? It is kind of in userland
(it's a process) and kind of in kernel land.
You don't have access to libc while you're in kernel land. There is a
subset of libc functions which are implemented for kernel processes, but
it's a very limited subset.
- Ted