socket name length in /usr/include/sys/socket.h

[Keith Packard]

I was wondering if anyone knew the origin of the 14 character
limit for name length in /usr/include/sys/socket.h.
This limit is not imposed by the kernel, some larger one is.
I wrote a program that used socket names in a rather intimate way,
using the fact that accept returns the name used to connect with,
this program is being used by several people at once; I didn't want
the name spaces to conflict so I didn't use /tmp/foobar or whatever.
I used a directory in ~ and stuck socket names there.  Problem is that
14 characters was a bit tight so I redeclared them to be 256 chars in
a local copy of socket.h.  Does anyone know either the actual kernel
limit for name length or a reason why 14 characters is the limit in
socket.h?

keith packard
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