[osol-discuss] Re: Shipping "lsof" with Solaris ? / was: Re: problem with /tmp FS still up

[John Plocher]

UNIX admin wrote:
>`lsof` peeks into private Solaris kernel structs and is likely
> to crash if those are changed. 
> So my hair stands up on my head when I sit in management meetings
> and one of my collagues whines why we can't have `lsof` integrated
> in our internal build of Solaris... absolutely horrible. 

If you postulate that

	1) lsof is tightly bound to a particular kernel build,

	2) lsof behaves correctly on the kernel it was built for, and

	3) lsof will be rebuilt and redelivered in concert with
	  any and all new kernel builds

then there is no architectural problem with what your colleague suggests.
We tend to call such things "consolidation private dependencies" and
gleefully (for the ARCs at least) delegate the job of keeping the
producer (kernel) and consumer (lsof) working correctly to the people who
are responsible for delivering the consolidation itself...

Of course, if you can't guarantee #2 above, this won't work.

   -John