usb/umass, devfs: this sucks

[Warren Block]

On Wed, 26 Dec 2007, Paul Schmehl wrote:
> --On December 26, 2007 3:45:15 PM -0700 Warren Block <wblock at wonkity.com> 
> wrote:
>
>> It seems like we need another kind of storage, something that is known
>> to be only mostly data-safe.  If the system would gracefully handle
>> unexpected media removals, that would be nice.  Not everything is a
>> trustworthy hard drive.
>> 
>> The user ought to be able to tell the system "Yes, da0s1 is an msdos
>> filesystem which I'm going to be yanking out at unexpected times.  Yes,
>> I know it might lose some data, but at least figure things out and don't
>> panic."
>> 
>
> I absolutely agree with this.  At a minimum it should be possible to forcibly 
> umount a device that you removed after forgetting to umount it first.  If I 
> had the first clue about the code, I'd submit a patch.

The code is likely... er, non-trivial, and might reach into some deep 
places.  Maybe a project the FreeBSD Foundation would sponsor?

(Seems like there was something about bounty projects being ungood, but 
maybe I have that wrong.  If not, I think a lot of us would be willing 
to contribute funds to a "Don't Panic: Removable Media" project.)

-Warren Block * Rapid City, South Dakota USA