Hey Michael, Your scenario is the exact reason why version numbers in the 'struct pcap' would be a wonderful thing, as you can test compatibility on the fly. That I believe would be the best of all worlds.
While I very much appreciate the use of good software engineering practices to get a grip on extensibility and backward compatibility, it should not be at the expense of actually using the full capabilities of the library. Why should you guys care if I decide to use pcap_read() instead of pcap_dispatch()? I save at least 10 machine instructions per packet by calling pcap_read() directly. If you guys decide to change pcap_read() on the fly, that's great!!! Just put an indication somewhere in the 'struct pcap' that there is a change. If the application writer decides to do internal pcap things, then it's the application writer that has to deal with backward and forward compatibility. Carter Carter Bullard QoSient, LLC 300 E. 56th Street, Suite 18K New York, New York 10022 [EMAIL PROTECTED] Phone +1 212 588-9133 Fax +1 212 588-9134 http://qosient.com > -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] On > Behalf Of Michael Richardson > Sent: Tuesday, May 07, 2002 1:14 PM > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: Re: [tcpdump-workers] RedHat and debian do not have > pcap-int.h > > > > >>>>> "Carter" == Carter Bullard <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > Carter> You'll need to provide an example as to why a > vendor supplied > Carter> pcap-int.h is going to screw anything up. If the > system library > Carter> was built using it, then anyone should be able to use it. > > Because the sizes of structures is defined in this file. > > If you build with version X of the shared library and > version X of the file, then when one installs version X+1 of > the shared library, the structure sizes may change and the > pcap-int.h that you built against would be the wrong program. > > If you do not mind recompiling everytime libpcap gets > updated by the vendor, then I guess you have no problems. > > ] ON HUMILITY: to err is human. To moo, bovine. > | firewalls [ > ] Michael Richardson, Sandelman Software Works, Ottawa, ON > |net architect[ > ] [EMAIL PROTECTED] > http://www.sandelman.ottawa.on.ca/ |device > driver[ ] > panic("Just another NetBSD/notebook using, kernel hacking, > security guy"); [ > - > This is the TCPDUMP workers list. It is archived at > http://www.tcpdump.org/lists/workers/index.htm> l > To > unsubscribe use > mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?body=unsubscribe > > - This is the TCPDUMP workers list. It is archived at http://www.tcpdump.org/lists/workers/index.html To unsubscribe use mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?body=unsubscribe
