Hello,
I just plugged in some USB devices into my old 133Mhz laptop with

OpenBSD on it and they magically work. These devices would not work

and/or had problems on Winblows with the laptop.. yet on the desktop

they USB devices worked fine. So as I say.. compliments, and thanks.
Question about buttons and knobs..

What exactly is a knob?
I ask because on a Door, a knob is very useful for getting the door

open.. if the door didn't have a knob I'd have to stick my finger or a

credit card into the latch area and get it open.
Is a knob an extra feature that doesn't really add anything much better,

but is just there for the sake of being trendy? Is a knob a wrapper in

some cases? For example is IFUP/IFDOWN a knob? Is a symlink a knob since

that is essentially an extra directory that isn't necessarily needed

since you could just be simple and use the actual file instead.. I think

some 'wrappers' are useful so I hope all wrappers are not knobs.. I

think maybe I have the definition of a knob wrong.J
Having two knobs on a door is stupid, unless one knob is for a really

short person who is 1 foot tall and the other knob is for the 5 foot

person).
I know I'm being a knob asking what a knob is, but I seriously want to

know exactly what a knob or button is. Yes I googled it and basically

all I found was a knob is when someone implements something that doesn't

seem to be the best solution or the knob doesn't really add any extra

enhancement. But on a door, a knob is quite needed.. so..  flamebaits

aside.. I'd like technical knob discussion please. As an API author I

try to reduce complexity.. but sometimes making wrappers around an API

might add a knob around it to make it simpler. For example the CP

command is just a knob for copy..
Regards,

L505

Knob Student

My understanding of knob is an option or a switch.  I guess the

meaning is like a music console - all those knobs you can turn to

fiddle with sound.
So you start off with command X that moves bytes from A to B.
So the user does ...
X A B
... and his bytes are moved.
Then dev. "a" adds an option - a knob.
X [a] A B
Then dev. "b" add his option
X [a|b] A B
Then devs "c", "d", "e" etc.  And someone adds the -quiet knob, the -

verbose knob.  And obviously if you run -quiet you would ignore -

verbose?  Or the other way round?
X [a|b|c|d|e|f] A B
By now the code starts to have a lot of conditionals:
if a and b but not c

	do this

otherwise if f

	do that
Code gets messy - harder to follow - bugs creep in (potentially

security related.)  When you want to add feature Z - which ones of

all those knobs/options should it handle?  In what way?  Was it

REALLY worth adding all those options for a couple of people here or

there (who could have piped output / used a Perl script / whatever?)

Usually not.
I guess it would be the same for an API - you start with a simple

entry point and end up with a lot of entry points, or having a whole

heap of options in every entry point.
My 2c ...

Like this stuff ...
http://digitalmedia.oreilly.com/2005/01/26/synthedit1_0105.html
Lots and lots and LOTS of knobs all to fiddle with sound.

I always thought of the BGP routing protocol as the ultimate example of

software knobbage.
Brian

At least here is Australia, knob is slang for:
1. Penis

2. an idiot or a person who does stupid things.

	"That guy is a knob"

That thing on the door is a handle.  A knob would let you adjust how

far the door opens, how much it resists being opened, whether or not

it shuts itself (and how quickly) and how far you have to turn the

handle to get it to start opening.  Clearly most doors work just fine

without knobs.

Good answer.
--

Best Regards
Edd
---------------------------------------------------

http://students.dec.bournemouth.ac.uk/ebarrett

Tech knob discussion, how about a nice boring dictionary answer.
1 a*:* a rounded protuberance *:* lump b*:* a small rounded ornament or

handle

2*:* a rounded usually isolated hill or mountain
This seems that a knob doesn't have to be useful.
Brian