I had actually already started working on a set of patches for this, but
I've incorporated some of your work.
There were problems with your patches:
* The limits on messages were global, not per-user. This could cause
unfairness in the interface.
* The counts were on the BMC, not on the interface. The interface is
the right place to put them, as that's where the messages flow
through, and it's easier to do.
* Going through all the messages to get the count is kind of inefficient
to do on a per-send basis. Keep a count instead.
* The ability to flush messages is a no-go. The IPMI driver guarantees
responses and internal kernel users (and external users) rely on that
property. A flush could break the watchdog or ACPI. The messages
will just have to time out.
This is my proposal for your review.
Thanks,
-corey