mmap vs alloc

[Arnt Gulbrandsen]

Jaap Akkerhuis writes:
>     How many linux 2.4.x kernels have contained sweeping VM changes so 
>     far? The one mentioned this week was a prepatch, even. I don't 
>     think "document how various systems might deal with it" is a good 
>     policy when the _stable_ linux kernels change like that.
>
> Not all operating systems have linux kernels.

Sure. I'm a freebsd user now myself (after 10+ years of linux).

What I'm saying is:

1. If one documents how unix software works on different unixes, linux 
must be included. It's too important. Fringe systems such as openserver 
can be skipped, linux not.
2. Since there have been multiple major changes in the 2.4 series, it's 
reasonable to assume  that there will be more (in 2.4 and/or 2.6), and 
"document how program x works on linux vm" is then a bad policy.
3. 1 and 2 combine to make "document it" a bad policy in general.

Documentation is good. But it's not a cure for all ills.

--Arnt