Re: O_DIRECT "packet mode" pipes on Linux

[Vito Caputo]

On Wed, Sep 23, 2020 at 09:12:40AM -0400, Chet Ramey wrote:
> On 9/22/20 11:23 PM, Vito Caputo wrote:
> > Hello list,
> > 
> > Is there any chance we could get a | modifier for enabling O_DIRECT on the
> > created pipe?  "Packet" style pipes have some interesting and potentially
> > useful properties, it would be nice if bash made them more accessible.
> 
> Is there a general need, especially since they're Linux-specific?
>

I'm not sure, but as far as GNU/Linux distros go bash, is kind of the
canonical shell, and this functionality is kind of inaccessible
without the shell wiring it up.

If I'm not mistaken this pipe flavor exists as the default behavior in
plan9, so it's not entirely unique to linux conceptually.

> What kind of modifier would you suggest?
> 

Maybe triple pipe could be packetized pipe?  It visually expresses
being sliced up somewhat; `foo ||| bar`

> Does anyone want to take a shot at implementing this idea?
> 

It's possible I could find time to take a stab at it, if nobody else
wants to.

Cheers,
Vito Caputo