Linux: Stable API vs. Not?
There has been a lot of interesting discussion on the benefits and negatives of a stable API on this thread, with good points being made on both sides.
But if you are interested, Greg Kroah-Hartman (an advocate of the changing API) sent me a document that may be worth reading. It is, in essence, the argument opposing the stable API:
The Linux Kernel Driver Interface (all of your questions answered and then some)
Greg Kroah-Hartman
This is being written to try to explain why Linux does not have a binary kernel interface, nor does it have a stable kernel interface. Please realize that this article describes the _in kernel_ interfaces, not the kernel to userspace interfaces. The kernel to userspace interface is the one that application programs use, the syscall interface. That interface is _very_ stable over time, and will not break. I have old programs that were built on a pre 0.9something kernel that still work just fine on the latest 2.6 kernel release. That interface is the one that users and application programmers can count on being stable.
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