Re: Patch to implement SIOCGIFINDEX

[Lloyd Parkes <lloyd%must-have-coffee.gen.nz@localhost>]

On 3/04/2013, at 5:52 AM, Ty Sarna <ty%sarna.org@localhost> wrote:
> 
> Still, what I've done now is to add an "ifname" field as well. By default it's
> ignored and so the interface is backwards compatible, but I allow setting the
> index to -1, in which case the name is used instead.

I'm pretty sure that ifname isn't especially useful. Something working as a VPN 
concentrator for remote users will have a lot of churn and a lot of reused 
interfaces names. I would look at using a generation number, an unsigned 32 bit 
number that is incremented every time an interface is added or removed. Maybe 
we even have one already? That way someone who really cares can just check the 
generation number and the people that don't care can ignore it.

Cheers,
Lloyd