David L. Parsley <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote on Fri, 04 Jan 2002 19:23:11 -0500: > I'll agree that I initially thought the 'file as directory' idea had a > very high cool factor - but Linus, Al Viro, etc. convinced me otherwise. > This also makes me think you'll have a hard time getting the kernel > changed to let you open a file as a directory.
Why did they reject the idea? It seems to work so well, having objects which have both contents (data like a file) and subobjects (like a directory). Is there an objection other than it isn't the traditional way of doing things? If the kernel people can't fit it in, it can be hacked around. Perhaps have each object appear twice in directory listings (once as a file, once as a directory, perhaps with a slightly different name). Or have an alternate API via ioctl codes until it gets accepted as being worthy of the kernel. - Alex
