Return-Path: Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org via listexpand id S1752757AbbBSSBh (ORCPT ); Thu, 19 Feb 2015 13:01:37 -0500 Received: from mail-wi0-f177.google.com ([209.85.212.177]:59455 "EHLO mail-wi0-f177.google.com" rhost-flags-OK-OK-OK-OK) by vger.kernel.org with ESMTP id S1751595AbbBSSBg (ORCPT ); Thu, 19 Feb 2015 13:01:36 -0500 MIME-Version: 1.0 In-Reply-To: <54E54586.5070602@gmail.com> References: <1424271576-1952-1-git-send-email-pantelis.antoniou@konsulko.com> <1424271576-1952-3-git-send-email-pantelis.antoniou@konsulko.com> <54E54586.5070602@gmail.com> From: Rob Herring Date: Thu, 19 Feb 2015 12:01:14 -0600 Message-ID: Subject: Re: [PATCH 2/4] of: DT quirks infrastructure To: Frank Rowand Cc: Pantelis Antoniou , Grant Likely , "devicetree@vger.kernel.org" , Tony Lindgren , Koen Kooi , Nicolas Ferre , "linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org" , Ludovic Desroches , "linux-arm-kernel@lists.infradead.org" , Pantelis Antoniou , Matt Porter , Guenter Roeck Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 Sender: linux-kernel-owner@vger.kernel.org List-ID: X-Mailing-List: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org Content-Length: 2055 Lines: 40 On Wed, Feb 18, 2015 at 8:08 PM, Frank Rowand wrote: > On 2/18/2015 6:59 AM, Pantelis Antoniou wrote: >> Implement a method of applying DT quirks early in the boot sequence. >> >> A DT quirk is a subtree of the boot DT that can be applied to >> a target in the base DT resulting in a modification of the live >> tree. The format of the quirk nodes is that of a device tree overlay. > > The use of the word "quirk" is a different mental model for me than what > this patch series appears to be addressing. I would suggest totally > removing the word "quirk" from this proposal to avoid confusing the > mental models of future generations of kernel folks. This comes from me as quirks are a different usecase I had in mind, but one that could use a similar mechanism. Although, in the case of quirks, I would expect them to be overlays built into the kernel. It would be more a way to update old dtbs. > What this patch series seems to be proposing is a method to apply DT > overlays as soon as unflatten_device_tree() completes. In other words, > making the device tree a dynamic object, that is partially defined by > the kernel during boot. Well, to be fair, the kernel chooses among > several possible alternatives encoded in the DT blob. So the device > tree is no longer a static object that describes the hardware of the > system. It may not sound like a big deal, but it seems to me to be > a fundamental shift in what the device tree blob is. Something that > should be thought about carefully and not just applied as a patch to > solve a point problem. I agree. I would not want to see every board for an SOC become an overlay for example. I think it has to be limited to truly plugable h/w (e.g. capes) or minor changes. We just have to define what is minor. :) Rob -- To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-kernel" in the body of a message to majordomo@vger.kernel.org More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html Please read the FAQ at http://www.tux.org/lkml/