Re: localeio

[Thor Lancelot Simon <tls%rek.tjls.com@localhost>]

On Wed, May 21, 2008 at 02:49:15PM +0000, Brian Ginsbach wrote:
> 
> Were there objections to the original code?

I didn't notice the original code.

> > > Also note that FreeBSD has used this same "database" format for
> > > something like seven years.
> > 
> > FreeBSD's locale database has more problems.  That's why we didn't
> > just import it.
> 
> Please point out what you think the problems are with FreeBSD's
> format.

The lack of a magic number is itself a killer, for me.  If Soda-san
thinks there are other problems, I trust him.

> If the FreeBSD "database" format has such problems they why haven't
> they fixed them in seven years?

Heh.  That is not something FreeBSD is good at (of course, at times
we have not been good at it either).  Another example, just off the top
of my head, is how TCP checksum offloading was broken in a way totally
unobvious to users (both software and hardware would always compute the
checksum on TX), with the full knowledge of several FreeBSD developers,
for *years*.  Bugs naive users don't notice tend to linger.

> Understood.  It is getting a wider audience now.  I've not heard
> other comments.

I agree with pretty much everything Soda-san said.

-- 
  Thor Lancelot Simon                                        
tls%rek.tjls.com@localhost

  "The inconsistency is startling, though admittedly, if consistency is to
   be abandoned or transcended, there is no problem."         - Noam Chomsky