2005-12-08 16:35:51

by Dirk Steuwer

[permalink] [raw]
Subject: AW: Re: Linux in a binary world... a doomsday scenario

>
>El Thu, 08 Dec 2005 16:49:46 +0100,
>[email protected] escribi?:
>
>> How about interconnecting it with the bugtracker?
>
>bugzilla is probably the best example of why human-managed "databases"
>are never 100% accurate and need lots of mainteinance 8) (take a look
>at mozilla's or kernel's bugzilla...). I'm tracking manually some
>of the new devices supported in http://wiki.kernelnewbies.org/LinuxChanges
>but there're so many changes under drivers/* that god knows how many
>things I am missing. Expecting that people will maintain a wiki or a
>buzgilla or anything similar properly is like expecting that people
>will document or compile-test their patches before submitting them :P
>
>I think that the infrastructure for building such database automatically
>is already there: In the same way MODULE_DEVICE_TABLE is used by hotplug
>& friends to load the right module you can use MODULE_DEVICE_TABLE to
>build a database of the devices supported by a kernel compiled with
>"make allmodconfig", parse it and put it in a web page.


OK this would get all device ids into the database, but it would not say anything about how well the device is supported. It could be anything from the moment you add it / partial support / pick this - excellent hardware choice random for newbie

So how about the kernel testing discussion months ago. Should there be a progam that people/developers could run, if they wanted to, that collects information from the current kernel and before sending it to kernel.org it asks the user about how happy he is with the hardware currently connected/installed to the machine.

Alternatively/Additionally you have an automated database and people keep adding things in a wikimanner to it, with some apropriate structure to it.

But still, if even bugzilla is not the perfect tool, can it be improved?

regards,
Dirk


2005-12-08 20:26:00

by Lee Revell

[permalink] [raw]
Subject: Re: AW: Re: Linux in a binary world... a doomsday scenario

On Thu, 2005-12-08 at 15:13 -0500, Dave Neuer wrote:
> On 12/8/05, Lee Revell <[email protected]> wrote:
> > On Thu, 2005-12-08 at 16:49 +0100, [email protected] wrote:
> > > Yes, i can see the problem.
> > > How about interconnecting it with the bugtracker?
> > > If there is a bug, and if it is related to some hardware, it is logged
> > > in the database as broken for that kernel version. If the bug is
> > > fixed, support status is ok again.
> > > All that needs to be done is entering the device once into the
> > > database, status is broken by default, and take it from there?
> > > Then it gets some goals (similar to bugs) assigned if it is a complex
> > > device. i.e. for a graphic device:
> > > * 2d graphic support
> > > * 3d graphic support
> > > * framebuffer
> > > * vesa
> >
> > If we followed your scheme 95% of supported hardware would be listed as
> > broken.
> >
> > Lee
>
> Well, let's start proposing solutions that will work then.
>

I like the idea of a centralized database, split up by subsystem, that's
maintained by the developers in a similar way to the ALSA soundcard
matrix. If a user finds an inaccuracy in the soundcard matrix or
discovers a new hardware model that works they submit a bug report
against the soundcard matrix, ideally containing a patch against the
XML.

It HAS to live alongside the code in the same version control system as
the code itself so it won't drift.

Lee