> What you suggest though, does raise a tough call question. I really
> am torn between taking the BSDI approach (requiring more userland work,
> but that's okay) and getting instant functionality.

Perhaps a loadable kernel module could contain the strings, and the scsi
driver can test for the presence of the module:  no module, minimalist hex
version (not necessarily just a raw dump); if the module is present, call it
and let it format the printout as it sees fit.  The module could even print
a minimally interpreted version on the console and make the raw data available
for a user-land application to write novels about.