Message-ID: <4A631D5A.3030105@imap.cc>
Date: Sun, 19 Jul 2009 15:19:22 +0200
From: Tilman Schmidt <tilman@imap.cc>
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To: Samuel Thibault <samuel.thibault@ens-lyon.org>,
       Janusz Krzysztofik <jkrzyszt@tis.icnet.pl>,
       "linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org" <linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org>,
       "linux-serial@vger.kernel.org" <linux-serial@vger.kernel.org>,
       "alsa-devel@alsa-project.org" <alsa-devel@alsa-project.org>
Subject: Re: [RFC] tty (or char) bus?
References: <4A5CA4CB.8070500@tis.icnet.pl> <20090717175428.GB4852@const.linuxsymposium.org>
In-Reply-To: <20090717175428.GB4852@const.linuxsymposium.org>
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Scripsit Samuel Thibault die 17.07.2009 19:54:
> Janusz Krzysztofik, le Tue 14 Jul 2009 17:31:23 +0200, a =E9crit :

>> AFAICS, even if tty lowlevel write() could be used unmodified, a
>> convenient way of reading characters from a tty is missing and should
>> be implemented in a line discipline. Please correct me if I am wrong.
>=20
> Have you seen the receive_buf line discipline hook?  Indeed it's not a
> read() operation as from userland, but at least you can get the data
> from the tty that way.

That's as it should be. A read() operation that sleeps until some data
is available isn't very useful in kernel mode, as it can only be used
if you have the ability to sleep. A callback function which runs your
code as soon as the data arrives is a much better fit, although of
course it requires a bit of rethinking.

>> OTOH, I found that some kind of abstraction layer for acccessing devic=
es=20
>> over a tty could be convenient. Instead of allocating a new line=20
>> discipline for each specific device, sometimes found on a specific boa=
rd=20
>> only, why not just create a new bus type?
>=20
> I'd tend to agree with you, as I also have a use case for that: braille=

> & speech synthesis devices.  However for now I haven't found a really
> convincing argument why line disciplines aren't enough.

I was in the same situation three years ago when I implemented the
ser_gigaset driver for an RS232 connected ISDN adapter, and found the
line discipline (LD) interface quite adequate once I had figured out
how to use it. The only inconvenience is how LDs are loaded and
attached to a serial interface, via the TIOCSETD ioctl, because you
need a userspace daemon which keeps the tty device open so that the
LD stays attached to it.

--=20
Tilman Schmidt                    E-Mail: tilman@imap.cc
Bonn, Germany
Diese Nachricht besteht zu 100% aus wiederverwerteten Bits.
Unge=F6ffnet mindestens haltbar bis: (siehe R=FCckseite)


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