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Subject: Re: New ethtool sub-feature and ethtool-netlink
To:     Michal Kubecek <mkubecek@suse.cz>
Cc:     John Linville <linville@tuxdriver.com>,
        "netdev@vger.kernel.org" <netdev@vger.kernel.org>,
        Linux Kernel Mailing List <linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org>,
        Andrew Lunn <andrew@lunn.ch>,
        Florian Fainelli <f.fainelli@gmail.com>
References: <4ecd48b3-92d6-38a1-11db-5c7b6a0ae341@gmail.com>
 <20190322073807.GL29968@unicorn.suse.cz>
From:   Heiner Kallweit <hkallweit1@gmail.com>
Message-ID: <da5508a4-d2a0-4e9a-974d-f6808ae8da1e@gmail.com>
Date:   Sat, 23 Mar 2019 15:32:36 +0100
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On 22.03.2019 08:38, Michal Kubecek wrote:
> On Thu, Mar 21, 2019 at 10:23:36PM +0100, Heiner Kallweit wrote:
>> I have an ethtool extension in the pipe that adds one more PHY tunable
>> sub-feature (for Fast Link Down support). Are smaller extensions still
>> ok for ethtool,
> 
> Adding a new PHY tunable is IMHO minor change which doesn't need to wait
> for the netlink interface. It's a bit more complicated due to the way
> tunables (and PHY tunables) are implemented in ioctl API (which requires
> both sides to have a list of tunables and their interpretation) but that
> is one of the things I would like to change. :-)
> 
> After all, I don't have support for (PHY) tunables in the netlink API
> yet (not even in the part which hasn't been submitted yet).
> 
Thanks a lot, good to know. I think I can submit the new PHY tunable
next week.

>> or IOW: When do you think is ethtool-netlink going to be stable enough
>> so that other developers can add features?
> 
> I would say that once it reaches mainline and userspace starts to use
> it, it will have to be stable (due to "Linus' first commandment"). When
> that is going to be, that depends on how the review is going, it's hard
> to guess.
> 
> Michal
> 
Heiner