On Mon, 14 Sep 1998, Guenther Grau wrote:

: > : If we could count on the kernel having symbols in-core at load time,
: > : any of these paradigms (/kern/kernel, /kern/kernelsymbols, etc)
: > : becomes a SMOP.

: > Some machines (particularly lower-end mips, m68k, vax, even a real I386...)
: > need all the memory they can get, and symbols take up a lot.
: 
: Is it not possible to page the symbols out to swap space, once the
: kernel is loaded?

No.  Swap is no longer configured at kernel boot time; it is configured as
part of the bootup /etc/rc.  And that initial boot Must work in order to get
the swap configured.

: There is one thing I'd like to throw in here:
: I really appreciate that people always try to think of every
: (corner) case, when talking about an implementation.

Well, this is more than a corner case.  I have three machines that fit the
lower-end definition above.  (And a lot of the "corner cases" have
real-life backing cases--we're a diverse bunch.  ;)

-- 
-- Todd Vierling (Personal tv@pobox.com; Bus. todd_vierling@xn.xerox.com)