Re: sysctl

[Posted October 18, 2006 by corbet]

From:		Linus Torvalds <torvalds-AT-osdl.org>
To:		Albert Cahalan <acahalan-AT-gmail.com>
Subject:		Re: sysctl
Date:		Wed, 18 Oct 2006 11:31:10 -0700 (PDT)
Cc:		linux-kernel <linux-kernel-AT-vger.kernel.org>, Andrew Morton <akpm-AT-osdl.org>, ebiederm-AT-xmission.com

On Wed, 18 Oct 2006, Albert Cahalan wrote:
> 
> I guess the sysctl question has been answered then,
> especially since random normal apps use sysctl.

I have yet to find a _single_ app that really uses sysctl, actually. Can 
you name one?

There's apparently some library functions that has used it in the past, 
and I've seen a few effects of that:

	warning: process `wish' used the removed sysctl system call

but the users all had fallback positions, so I don't think anything 
actually broke.

(The situation may be different with older libraries, which is why it's 
still an option to compile in sysctl. None of the machines I had access 
to cared at all, though).

		Linus