Re: [gpsd-dev] Direct GPS support in ntpd makes me nervous

[Eric S. Raymond]

Harlan Stenn <address@hidden>:
> ntpd has had direct driver support for a Very Long Time, pre-dating
> gpsd.  This includes support for a number of non-GPS devices.

Yeah.  And it makes some sense for you to directly support things like
time-radio receivers. 

Though I have to say that I think the modularity advantages of getting
core ntpd out of the hardware-support business entirely look good to
me.  You have an as-near-as-dammit zero-latency symbiont interface
through shared memory; why not use it for everything rather than
bundling driver code for a dozen obsolete devices into the image every
client user runs?

If it were me, I'd break the program apart into ntpd and clockd
pieces.  Leave nptd just doing the aggregation, Byzantine algoritms,
and distribution.  Exile all the hardware management to clockd.  Have
clockd feed ntpd through the shared-memory interface.

> I'm game to identify all of the refclocks that ntpd supports, and if
> gpsd is supporting those refclocks I'll talk to DLM about this and bring
> it up on the appropriate NTP lists for discussion.
> 
> This seems like a reasonable plan to me, and I'd be game to look at the
> chrony pipes to see about including them in ntpd, too.

Good. You can count on close cooperation from me and I'm sure Gary as well.
-- 
                <a href="http://www.catb.org/~esr/";>Eric S. Raymond</a>