Position statement: Distributed shared library

By applying the notion of Shared Library to distributed environments, this paper introduces a new model, called the Distributed Shared Library (DSLib), which allows a given library function to be executed on the same address space of its invoker as well as on a different address space. We argue that remote services, which do not maintain static data or share global data with others, should be implemented as libray functions, rather than individual servers. Examples of remote services include remote access to special devices (e.g., audio devices), and I/O intense functions that would have better performance if executed on the file server rather than on the local host (e.g., copying flies located on tile same file server). The Distributed Shared Library Model suggests a simple, elegant method to implement remote library functions. It, therefore, encourages programmers to migrate system services implemented as local functions to remote functions.