devfs doesn't support symlinks

[mmu_man]

devfs in BeOS used to support symlinks. It was sometimes useful for some work arounds, like forcing a graphics card device to be picked up first by app_server.

[axeld]

It actually supports symlinks internally, but it doesn't export that functionality to the fs API. I actually see little reason to do so, to be honest.

[mmu_man]

BeOS compatibility would be one reason :-P

[phoudoin]

I guess modifying app_server to check some environment variable that would, when defined, force the graphics card device to pick up will be easier. IIRC, there is already one regarding REMOTE_SCREEN or something like this.

[axeld]

For the app_server, the solution is actually to simply support multiple graphics cards :-)