RE: usb flash drive removal (Re: Desktop NetBSD needs your help)

[Gerald Lee <glee%force10networks.com@localhost>]

> David Holland Wrote:
> Subject: Re: usb flash drive removal (Re: Desktop NetBSD needs your help)
> 
> On Mon, Feb 09, 2009 at 11:57:01AM -0500, Arnaud Lacombe wrote:
>  > [assorted negativity about removable volumes]

> I have one thing to say:

> Bollocks.

> Removable media weren't invented last year. There have been many
> operating systems that supported removable media correctly, including
> "real" OSes with VFS layers and write-back disk caching and the works.
> Many of these systems date back 25 years or more.

        Quite true, worked on an OS based on the progenitor of NetBSD
that handled removable media.  Had a volume layer that would recognize
from the label where it fits in the data scheme (both stripped and replicated)
and matched the label with entries in /etc/fstab, and mounted it if
the data object wasn't already represented there.  Handled data coherence
and consistency... All this about 25 years ago.

> None of them, however, are Unix-derived. It is a disgrace that
> removable media handling in Unix has remained broken all this time.

        This is the only disagreement.  Not only the above instance,
but another implementation based on USL releases.  Relatively simple
mechanisms similar to inittab entires (OK, my age is showing) coupled
with appropriate (possibly dynamic entries in fstab).
        On the down side, these supported a single file system (well
there weren't that many at the time anyway), and the removable media
was the size of a cake-box, and the insertion point was the size of
a dorm fridge...  all for 300 MiB.
        I'm agreeing with everything else, just disagree that it
hasn't been done in unix derived OS.

    ... <good stuff deleted to keep to the point>

> -- 
> David A. Holland
> dholland%netbsd.org@localhost

- bob