[CLUE-Tech] Question on mounting a new scsi drive

[Matt Gushee]

On Sat, Aug 09, 2003 at 10:37:57PM -0600, Jed S. Baer wrote:
> On Sat, 9 Aug 2003 21:23:00 -0600
> Matt Gushee <matt at gushee.net> wrote:
> 
> > So to get back to your original question--in case you haven't already
> > figured it out--all you have to do is:
> > 
> >     $ mkdir /abc
> > 
> > That directory is part of the VFS; it's not on any drive at all.
> 
> Well, yes it is.

Actually, you're illustrating my point rather nicely. I suppose in a
sense you're right, but the main idea I was trying to get across is
that, where the Windows filesystem exposes the physical storage layout:

          C:                         D:
        /    \                     /    \
   Program  WINNT             MyCrap   MoreCrap
    Files     |
   /        System32
Microsoft     |
           NSABackDoor

(And they call Windows user-friendly??)

Whereas Unix has a single tree in which directories are mapped to
storage devices in an arbitrary way that the user need not know about.
And a system administrator can migrate a directory to a different drive
without the users noticing any change. Whereas if a Windows sys admin
moves your stuff to the J: drive, it looks like your stuff is gone.

And, as your example shows, the existence of a directory called /foo is
independent of whether anything is mounted there, and I can put files
there regardless. And you don't need to know anything about partitions
to create a directory at any point in the filesystem.

So I think we basically agree, it's just a question of how to best state
the concept of what and where /foo is.

> Actually, I still think this is just a little wierd. I mean, it makes
> sense that there has to be a directory entry in / (or wherever) for the
> mount point. But it would be nifty if it were flagged as a "mount point"
> entry, instead of being a real directory. 

You may have something there.

-- 
Matt Gushee                 When a nation follows the Way,
Englewood, Colorado, USA    Horses bear manure through
mgushee at havenrock.com           its fields;
http://www.havenrock.com/   When a nation ignores the Way,
                            Horses bear soldiers through
                                its streets.
                                
                            --Lao Tzu (Peter Merel, trans.)