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List:       linux-kernel
Subject:    Re: New syscall: leftpad()
From:       Randy Dunlap <rdunlap () infradead ! org>
Date:       2016-03-31 23:36:24
Message-ID: 56FDB478.4020609 () infradead ! org
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Please be more careful in your description...

On 03/31/16 15:33, Richard Weinberger wrote:
> Recent happenings in the node.js community showed how fragile software is when
> it comes to dependencies of fundamental algorithms like leftpad[1].
> A node.js package which provided ledpad vanished and broke a lot of software.

                                   leftpad

> This raised our attention and we came to the conclusion that it is the kernel's
> job to provide such functionality such that node.js based applications can in future
> rely in Linux's "don't break userspace" rule.
> We hope that glibc and Andoid's bionic will soon offer wrapper functions for this

                         Android's

> new leftpad system call.
> We put leftpad into the kernel not only because of Linux's stable ABI,
> also for performance reasons.
> As everyone knows, within the kernel everything is faster and better.
> Leftpad has millions of users, so it has to be as fast as possible.
> This new system call will also help making services like left-pad.io[2]
> faster and more reliable. If the leftpad() system call gets adopted by a wider user base
> it might also make sense to add a generic npm() system call which acts like ioctl()
> where kernel modules can register new functions that are often used by node.js.
> Such functions might be, is_array(), is_int(), etc.


-- 
~Randy
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