The point that's apparently being missed by most people is that a working
flush method is needed to fix a serious bug in NFS (data loss when a file is
closed and an error occurs during the final write). The fix is that you
flush first and report the error then, because it's too late if you find the
error during the actual close.
So all drivers should be updated to have a *working* flush() (a null pointer
accomplishes nothing, it leaves NFS still broken). Linus chose to force
this by putting flush() where it would cause serious breakage for drivers
not aware of it, to force those drivers to be updated.
-- brandon s. allbery [os/2][linux][solaris][japh] allbery@kf8nh.apk.net system administrator [WAY too many hats] allbery@ece.cmu.edu electrical and computer engineering KF8NH carnegie mellon university
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