Historically there have been too many constraints on the Linux syscall interface:
- Performance
- Stability
- Convenience
- Security
This differs from eg. Windows because on Windows the stable interface to the OS is in user-space, not tied to the syscall boundary. This has resulted in unfortunate compromises in the design of various pieces of OS functionality.
Thankfully things like futex and io-uring have dropped the "convenience" constraint from the syscall itself and moved it into user-space. Convenience is still important, but it doesn't need to be a constraint at the lowest level, and shouldn't compromise the other ideals.
- Performance
- Stability
- Convenience
- Security
This differs from eg. Windows because on Windows the stable interface to the OS is in user-space, not tied to the syscall boundary. This has resulted in unfortunate compromises in the design of various pieces of OS functionality.
Thankfully things like futex and io-uring have dropped the "convenience" constraint from the syscall itself and moved it into user-space. Convenience is still important, but it doesn't need to be a constraint at the lowest level, and shouldn't compromise the other ideals.