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SubjectRe: Why khttpd is a bad idea
* Chris Smith said:
> Dan Hollis wrote:
> > Exactly. In-kernel http is lower memory profile, simpler, and faster.
> > All are major issues in embedded systems.
>
> Hate to burst this bubble, but what is the use of a completely static web
> server on an embedded device? None. If you can't use dynamic pages then
> you can't report status, and if you can't handle some kind of CGI or
Wrong. You can use Java applets to report status - that's what 3Com's
devices do.

> whatever else, then you can't do dynamic configuration. Which means you'll
Oh, you can. If you're talking about configuration of the WWW interface -
cookies are there for you, if you're talking about the configuration of the
device itself, internal variables etc. are modified and stored on the flash
media. Where's the need for dynamic pages?

> need a CGI-capable web server running in user space anyway to do useful work
Why?

> in an embedded device. Thus, no memory savings. The extra memory for
> in-kernel khttpd might even matter on an embedded device, so I doubt it
> would get used anyway.
I think it would get used - memory savings would be quite significant, as
well as the time saved on context switches and the like.

> Sure, you might be able to make things marginally faster -- just remember
> there is a cost there, too. There's a reason that all processes don't run
> at privelege 0, and that's because it makes the system less reliable.
You are talking about an environment where there are a lots of user-space
processes, many people connect to the server, many other servers talk to it
etc. - none of this is true with an embedded system. And if you have a
kernel with most of the services the given embedded system needs, asssuming
they are well written, you won't have the problems you just envisioned. And
try to stuff a full-blown httpd with CGI, FastCGI and whatsnot into a gas
distributor with an embedded OS (and don't laugh, such things with Linux
inside work in the Netherlands :)).

marek
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