Re: [PATCH] ioctl SIOCGIFNETMASK: ip alias bug 2.4.9 and 2.2.19

[jamal <hadi@cyberus.ca>]

On Thu, 6 Sep 2001, Wietse Venema wrote:

> Alan Cox:
> > > Soldiers are marching down the street. The mother of one of those
> > > soldiers is ever so proud.  All the other guys are marching out of
> > > step.  Her son is the only one who does it right.
> > >
> > > That's what it looks like for a person who writes Internet software
> > > that aims to work on a wide variety of platforms.
> >
> > I think you have the metaphor wrong. The older API is a bit like the
> > cavalry charging into battle at the start of world war one. It may have been
> > how everyone did it but they guys with the "newfangled, really not how it
> > should be done, definitely not cricket"  machine guns got the last laugh
>
> Keep your superiority complex out of my mailbox, thank you.
>

Wietse,

netlink, as a few people have pointed to you is the 'proper' way to do
things. Sure, the BSDs did it the way you love it, but linux is a
different operating system (cut the "if its not Scottish its crap
mentality"). Netlink does improve on "the way its always been done for
the last 80 years". Infact netlink has already been approved to be (at
least informational) RFC. Look at a slightly dated draft at:
http://search.ietf.org/internet-drafts/draft-salim-netlink-jhshk-00.txt
Maybe you should preach to the BSDs about netlink?

cheers,
jamal

PS:- If you want help on writting netlink based code to achieve what you
are trying to do, just yell. Look at the source for the ip utility which
is within the iproute2 package.