+++ /dev/null
-
-Except for a few extremely rare exceptions user space applications do not use
-the binary sysctl interface. Instead everyone uses /proc/sys/... with
-readable ascii names.
-
-Recently the kernel has started supporting setting the binary sysctl value to
-CTL_UNNUMBERED so we no longer need to assign a binary sysctl path to allow
-sysctls to show up in /proc/sys.
-
-Assigning binary sysctl numbers is an endless source of conflicts in sysctl.h,
-breaking of the user space ABI (because of those conflicts), and maintenance
-problems. A complete pass through all of the sysctl users revealed multiple
-instances where the sysctl binary interface was broken and had gone undetected
-for years.
-
-So please do not add new binary sysctl numbers. They are unneeded and
-problematic.
-
-If you really need a new binary sysctl number please first merge your sysctl
-into the kernel and then as a separate patch allocate a binary sysctl number.
-
-(ebiederm@xmission.com, June 2007)