Re: POSIX Semaphores

[Marc Balmer <marc%msys.ch@localhost>]

>>> Like mouse@ I am unaware of what makes ksem mandatory, [...]
>> Whatever is 'mandatory'.
> 
> Well, it was said to be...as jnemeth put it, it was "made unconditional
> on the basis that it is essential".
> 
>> But if you use programs that require POSIX shared memory, you should
>> also offer POSIX semaphores.
> 
> Perhaps - but, even if so, "offer" does not mean "mandate support for".
> 
> But what uses POSIX semaphores - or even shared memory - that is so
> essential as to justify making it non-optional?  There are a lot of
> other things which are pretty essential for most uses but which are
> still optional, such as options INET, options FFS, and pseudo-device
> pty, to name just three; I don't think "it's needed for many popular
> uses of the system" is a good reason to make something impossible to
> compile out.
> 
>> Popular programs using POSIX shared memory are X11 including clients
> 
> See above about popularity not being an excuse.  (I feel reasonably
> sure more systems use ptys - or INET - than use X11.)

FWIW, _all_ of my NetBSD systems run PostgreSQL and thus require that stuff.