Re: [HEADSUP] changes to cam_get_device() and cam_open_device()

On Fri, 8 Oct 2010, Bob Bishop wrote:

> On 8 Oct 2010, at 10:07, Andriy Gapon wrote:
>
>> As there was no objections, I am going to commit changes to 
>> cam_get_device() that remove the following features:
>>
>> - ignoring 'r' and 'n' at the start of device name
>> - ignoring whitespace at end of device name
>> - parsing and ignoring slice and partition names in a device name
>>
>> cam(3) manual page is going to be updated to reflect the changes. This 
>> would simplify the code and disambiguate its behavior.
>>
>> Non-rewound and character disk/SCSI devices has not been supported for 
>> quite a while now. [etc]
>
> Just a clarification, does this mean no /dev/nsa.. ? That would be a 
> showstopper for many tape users.
>

Yes, the no-rewind tape device is a practical requirement.  I think it's 
ok for 'r' to go away for disk devices, but 'n' for tape devices needs to 
be retained.

If we really want to remove the 'n', then all tape devices need to be 
no-rewind on close, and the rewind-on-close devices need to be deprecated 
just like the block devices for disks were.  Of course doing this would 
change traditional behavior and might violate POLA.

-- 
Greg Rivers