From 83c79b55f0d929a0dcf2b0d347cd1875afc06f21 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Nathan Lynch <ntl@pobox.com> Date: Wed, 2 Jul 2008 10:21:30 -0700 Subject: [PATCH] sysfs-rules.txt: reword API stability statement The first paragraph of this document implies that user space developers shouldn't use sysfs at all, but then it goes on to describe rules that developers should follow when accessing sysfs. Not only is this somewhat self-contradictory, it has been shown to discourage developers from using established sysfs interfaces. A note of caution is more appropriate than a blanket "sysfs will never be stable" assertion. Signed-off-by: Nathan Lynch <ntl@pobox.com> Cc: Stephen Rothwell <sfr@canb.auug.org.au> Signed-off-by: Andrew Morton <akpm@linux-foundation.org> Signed-off-by: Greg Kroah-Hartman <gregkh@suse.de> --- Documentation/sysfs-rules.txt | 5 ++--- 1 file changed, 2 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-) diff --git a/Documentation/sysfs-rules.txt b/Documentation/sysfs-rules.txt index 80ef562160bba..6049a2a84dda2 100644 --- a/Documentation/sysfs-rules.txt +++ b/Documentation/sysfs-rules.txt @@ -3,9 +3,8 @@ Rules on how to access information in the Linux kernel sysfs The kernel-exported sysfs exports internal kernel implementation details and depends on internal kernel structures and layout. It is agreed upon by the kernel developers that the Linux kernel does not provide a stable -internal API. As sysfs is a direct export of kernel internal -structures, the sysfs interface cannot provide a stable interface either; -it may always change along with internal kernel changes. +internal API. Therefore, there are aspects of the sysfs interface that +may not be stable across kernel releases. To minimize the risk of breaking users of sysfs, which are in most cases low-level userspace applications, with a new kernel release, the users -- GitLab