FreeBSD 9.1-RC1 Available...

[Konstantin Belousov]

On Thu, Aug 23, 2012 at 05:41:49PM -0500, Mark Felder wrote:
> On Thu, 23 Aug 2012 12:37:04 -0500, Walter Hurry <walterhurry at gmail.com>  
> wrote:
> 
> >One thing (welcome, but puzzling) which surprised me was that my
> >vboxguest.ko did *not* need to be recompiled. How did the upgrade manage
> >that?
> 
> FreeBSD has a stable ABI unlike Linux. A kernel module compiled for any  
> 9.x release should work on any other 9.x release without needing to be  
> recompiled.
This is a statement that is false at least two times, if not three.
This was a question about Kernel Binary Inteface, not Application
Binary Interface.

First, we have zero guarantees about ability to load or have a system
survive loading of the module compiled against the later kernel.

Second, we do not have real KBI definition, and KBI stability is managed
only ad-hock. E.g. VFS quite often breaks, while network or disk controllers
drivers are usually fine.

YMMV. Snobby false statements hurt the project.
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