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From: Tim Jansen <tim@tjansen.de>
To: Daniel Kobras <kobras@tat.physik.uni-tuebingen.de>
Subject: Re: [PATCH] 2.5 PROPOSAL: Replacement for current /proc of shit.
Date: Sun, 4 Nov 2001 15:13:37 +0100
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On Sunday 04 November 2001 14:36, Daniel Kobras wrote:
> Certainly you can further fields without breaking (well-written) apps.
> That's what the first line in /proc/partitions is for. When adding a new
> column, you also give it a new tag in the header. Ask RedHat how many apps
> broke when they started patching sard into their kernels.

The format won't help you when you have strings with whitespace or if you 
want to export a list for each partition. 

> Adding new fields is even easier with /proc/stat-style key:value pairs.
> Both styles are human- as well as machine readable. Problems only arise
> when someone changes the semantics of a certain field without changing the
> tag. But luckily these kinds of changes never happen in a stable kernel
> series...

I don't think that this format is very user friendly, and it has the same 
limitations as /proc/partitions. 

The problem is not that it is impossible to invent a new format for every 
file. The problem is that you need a different format for each file.

bye...
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