[angelsl]

Simplicity is nice sometimes.

[AnIdiotOnTheNet]

I have a hard time reconciling the Linux kernel with any meaningful definition of simplicity.

[bitwize]

Not when you want to do async I/O and must instead burn CPU cycles and battery life spinning in a select loop.

[floatboth]

What?

select(), which originally appeared way back in the day in 4.2BSD, is a way to not spin — it only returns when a descriptor is ready.

[kazinator]

Both async I/O and select/poll are ways of multiplexing concurrent I/O activities onto a single thread of control. Both provide a way to initiate I/O and wait for completion without busy waiting. Both require timed-out waits if the thread must give periodic attention to something other than I/O.