NAMESPACE(5)                     File Formats                     NAMESPACE(5)

NAME

       namespace - map GS/OS partitions to GNO mount points

SYNOPSIS

       /etc/namespace

DESCRIPTION

       The namespace file is parsed by the GNO kernel when the kernel is boot‐
       ing.  The mappings in this file allow the kernel to provide a contingu‐
       ous  hierarchy of directories without requiring those directories to be
       on the same physical disk partition.  This is similar to the UNIX  con‐
       cept of mount points.

       The format of the namespace file is:

            :mountpoint    :path:to:real:directory

       Comments  are  not  currently allowed in the file.  It is critical that
       only colons be used as pathname delimiters in this file,  and  that  no
       trailing colons are specified.

EXAMPLE

       In  this  abbreviated example, the /usr directory hierarchy exists on a
       different physical partition than do /bin and /dev:
            :bin :disk1:bin
            :dev :disk1:dev
            :usr :disk2:moreGNOstuff:usr

BUGS

       There is currently a limit of about 20 entries in the namespace file.

       Whitespace can appear in the names of neither the mount point  nor  the
       directory being mounted.

       Only a single directory component can be specified for the mount point.
       Therefore, the following would be an illegal entry:
            :usr:local     :disk3:local

       One would expect that files existing in the same directory as  the  GNO
       kernel  binary  could be referenced relative to the root partition (for
       example, referencing the initrc file as /initrc).  This is not  permit‐
       ted;  such a reference will cause the relevent system call to fail with
       ENOENT.  Similarily, one cannot refer to the  directory  in  which  the
       kernel resides as /).

       The  specified  mount  points cannot currently be used as home directo‐
       ries.  For example, root's home directory cannot be /root, where  /root
       is defined in /etc/namespace as:
               :root   :hd3:root

HISTORY

       The namespace facility first appeared in GNO v2.0.



GNO                             7 February 1999                   NAMESPACE(5)