[Bug libc/18515] posix_fallocate disastrous fallback behavior is no longer mandated by POSIX and should be fixed

["lopresti at gmail dot com" <sourceware-bugzilla at sourceware dot org>]

https://sourceware.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=18515

--- Comment #4 from Pat <lopresti at gmail dot com> ---
It is unfortunate that this one interface tries to serve two distinct purposes:

 - reducing fragmentation in high-performance applications
 - guaranteeing future writes do not fail for lack of space

As a consequence of the original POSIX mis-specification -- the ultimate cause
of the WONTFIX disposition for this bug -- posix_fallocate() is now unusable in
portable code for any purpose at all.

People like me who want high performance can never use posix_fallocate()
because glibc will never change its slow fallback behavior.

People who want to guarantee future writes do not fail also cannot use this
interface in portable code, because current POSIX allows EINVAL when the
underlying O/S does not support pre-allocation.

Although I disagree with the glibc maintainers' decision here, I understand and
respect it. In any case, the blame belongs to the original POSIX spec.

Thanks.

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