[U-Boot-Users] RFC: hidden environment variables

[Timur Tabi]

Wolfgang Denk wrote:
> In message <462D1703.9000907 at freescale.com> you wrote:
>>> Why would you want to hide them?
>> To provide internal storage for functionality (in this case, a command 
>> to manage non-probeable jumpers and such) without exposing the storage 
>> format.
> 
> What would be bad about this? If I want to know the format, I just
> look it up in the source code. You cannot hide that.

The level of hiding that you're talking about is more extreme than the level we're talking 
about.  We're just talking about not having the variable show up when you do "print", so 
that it doesn't pollute the list of variables that the user does want to interact with.

> So why making it unnecessarily complicated?

Hidden variables aren't complicated.  I think the idea is elegant and useful.

> But seriously: if youy write in the docs: Don't  mess  with  variable
> XXX,  and  they  do, is their fault in exactly the same way like when
> they mess with the source code. Where's the difference?

Again, this is a user interface issue.  Why expose a variable to a user that he shouldn't 
touch and can't use?

-- 
Timur Tabi
Linux Kernel Developer @ Freescale