
%     Registration                     The sysfs Filesystem                   
%  [2]Register/Submit Patrick Mochel (mochel@digitalimplant.org)              

sysfs is considered by some to be one of the most       
important and useful features that was integrated into  
the 2.6 kernel. It has definitely been one of the most  
talked about, most used, and most visible features. By  
providing a window into kernel objects, their           
attributes, and the relationships between them, a lot   
of opportunities arise:
\begin{enumerate}  
\item to cleanup existing code that 
has traditionally used proc,  
\item to easily port code     
that has traditionally used procfs to export object     
attributes, and 
\item to integrate new subsystems with     
configurable and exportable attributes.                 
\end{enumerate}

While sysfs has been a great benefit for a large amount 
code in the kernel, it's far from perfect. This talk    
will discuss those imperfections, including but not     
limited to, the places and situations where it's        
cumbersome or inappropriate to use sysfs; how sysfs     
suffers from some of the same problems as procfs and    
sysctl by making it easy to duplicate code and          
propagate bugs; and what the performance impact of      
using sysfs is.                                         

It won't be an unmitigated tomato-throwing session,     
though. The purpose of identifying and characterizing   
the problems is simply the first step in making it      
better. Current developments and plans for the near     
future to fix or alleviate the problems will be         
described. The pundits will be placated and the critics 
pacified in the next few steps towards total            
domination.                                             


