Oct
25th
Tue
25th
The distinction between mechanism and policy is one of the best ideas behind the Unix design. Most programming problems can indeed be split into two parts: “what capabilities are to be provided” (the mechanism) and “how those capabilities can be used” (the policy). If the two issues are addressed by different parts of the program, or even by different programs altogether, the software package is much easier to develop and to adapt to particular needs.
— Jonathan Corbet, Greg Kroah-Hartman, Alessandro Rubini on Linux Device Drivers, 3rd Edition
