Am 23.01.2016 um 18:28 schrieb One Thousand Gnomes [off-list ref]:

quoted

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There is lots of stuff we probe and bind via user space - most things
these days in fact. That's much of why we have notifiers and udev. It's
frequently a win in flexibility, security and configurability to do stuff
via user daemons. We do it for example with all the volume management,
raid and disk encryption.  

Because volumes are something users really want to configure. They
can change their hardware configuration every now and then. And
there are removable media to be considered.

Like USB bluetooth dongles, like systems with external SPI ports, or plug
in SPI devices, or plug in gps devices on other interfaces ?

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In our UART cases the underlaying hardware can't be reconfigured. So
there is no need to load this burden of config to the user.

Plenty of uarts it can be or the BT can be muxed with other device
endpoints.

Please give examples where the user can configure such a chip that is
soldered on the same PCB as the SoC.

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For BT or GPS I just want it to work the same on all devices (independently
on how the specific chip is connected). Kernel should unify such things.
Or it would not be a Un(iplexed)ix.

I think you are confusing Unix and Multics.

No, If I write Unix I mean Unix. The "Un" stands for "Uniplexed" which is
a pun of course. But it alludes to "Unification" giving the impression of
"Simplification".

Unix is nothing to do with Linux and Unix was about creating a beautiful
system not by having a huge crap filled kernel,

and no crap filled user space.

but by having only the
minimum necessary in the kernel. Unix

I think you are confusing it with the goals of microkernels (e.g. Mach or Hurd).

was not about what was put in but
what was left out.

Exactly. It left out complexity. E.g. everything is a file. You can use devices
like files. Just open some /dev/tty and get GPS NMEA records...

"We used to sit around in the Unix Room saying, 'What can we throw out?
Why is there this option?" - Doug McIlroy

Fine. Let's throw out the idea to configure power on/off a GPS or BT device
by user space daemons for hard wired chips.

GPS is a train wreck for commonality. Most GPS requires custom binary
only user space code often obfuscated in order to meet the regulations
governing GPS technology to stop third parties using it for missile
guidance.

Most GPS receivers I came across are modules which spit out NMEA
records with serial 9600 bit/s. Either through RS232 or Bluetooth SPP. There
may be others, but I don't want to have all problems of the world solved
at once.

-- hns