Hi,

quoted text
> 	Patch for 2.6.20 is attached.

... and in the meantime netdevices aren't class_device any more :) IOW,
your patch isn't going to work any more. Also, I think wireless could
benefit from this as well.

quoted text
>         The kobject framework is well designed, so adding these
> features is trivial change and won't run the risk of breaking anything
> (famous last words). Obviously, hotplug apps are free to ignore those
> additional features.

Why not just add this to base kobject_rename instead? That way,
userspace is notified for all renames in sysfs.
The patch then collapses down to the change in net's sysfs code to add
the ifindex to the environment, and another change in kobject to invoke
a new event when a name changes and show the old name.

johannes