Message-ID: <3ABFB20E.DFB37BFA@kahuna.cag.cpqcorp.net>
Date: Mon, 26 Mar 2001 13:18:06 -0800
From: John Byrne <jbyrne@kahuna.cag.cpqcorp.net>
Reply-To: John.L.Byrne@compaq.com
MIME-Version: 1.0
To: torvalds@transmeta.com
CC: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org
Subject: Re: Larger dev_t
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Sender: linux-kernel-owner@vger.kernel.org

> Re: Larger dev_t
> 
On Sat Mar 24 2001 Linus Torvalds (torvalds@transmeta.com) wrote:
> There is no way in HELL I will ever accept a 64-bit dev_t.
> 
> I _will_ accept a 32-bit dev_t, with 12 bits for major numbers, and 20
> bits for minor numbers.
> 

Do you have any interest in doing away with the concept of major and
minor numbers altogether; turning the dev_t into an opaque unique id?

At the application level, the kinds of information that is derived from
the major/minor number should probably be derived in some other manner
such as a library or system call. Code that determines device type by
comparing with the major/minor numbers should probably be discouraged in
the long run and this could be a good time to start.

John Byrne
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