A common VFS and a Common conf-system [Part II]

[Sean Middleditch]

On Thu, 2005-03-03 at 02:35 +0000, Jamie McCracken wrote:
>Sean Middleditch wrote:
>> If threads *are* necessary, I'm alright with that - but I want concrete
>> proof that we need it first.
>> 
>> Given the stage in the game we're at, it's not even that big of a
>> problem right now.  I'd rather we spend our time discussing "what does
>> the VFS have to do" and not "how will it do it."  :)
>
>Im not trying to shoot down your proposal - far from it! We all want and 
>need something like this but it needs to be better than what we 
>currently have (IE faster, easier to use etc - essentially something 
>that just  blows away gnome-vfs completely rather than be a clone with 
>different clothes).

Agreed.  ^_^

>
>I know threading makes things harder for you but it actaully makes the 
>API friendlier and we can use sync without blocking  which would make 
>things simpler for apps to use (the async part would be optional so apps 
>can decide which to use as appropriate).

Threading really doesn't help here at all, really - you can do
synchronous without threading.

Quite the opposite, I don't think threading makes things too complicated
- more I think that just saying "use threads" is what people tend to do
when they want an easy way out of just designing the system right.  ;-)
>
>If you stuff everything in one big loop you either bear the brunt of 
>potential blocks or pass the buck to the backends which will probably 
>cause a lot of grief there. Maybe im being pessimistic and the problems 
>I brought up wont affect ordinary users but I feel using threads gives 
>added peace of mind to these potential pitfalls.

And what adds peace of mind against the pitfalls of threads?  ;-)

>
>I dont have concrete proof of the need of threads because ive never used 
>a threadless vfs.

Once we get to that stage, I guess we'll find out with a real
implementation.  I admit I could be totally wrong.  Wouldn't be the
first time at all.  ~_^

>
>jamie.

-- 
Sean Middleditch <elanthis at awesomeplay.com>