Subject: Re: [RFC] Some thoughts on device drivers and sysfs
From: Adam Belay <abelay@novell.com>
To: Dominik Brodowski <linux@dominikbrodowski.net>
Cc: Greg KH <greg@kroah.com>, Patrick Mochel <mochel@digitalimplant.org>,
       linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org, linux-pm@lists.osdl.org
In-Reply-To: <20050327214309.GA18745@isilmar.linta.de>
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Date: Sun, 27 Mar 2005 17:18:10 -0500
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On Sun, 2005-03-27 at 23:43 +0200, Dominik Brodowski wrote:
> On Sun, Mar 27, 2005 at 04:27:24PM -0500, Adam Belay wrote:
> > > extern int device_create_file(struct device *device, struct device_attribute
> > > * entry);
> > > and delete them (e.g. in ->remove) using
> > > extern void device_remove_file(struct device * dev, struct device_attribute
> > > * attr);
> > > 
> > > and there's also 
> > > 
> > > extern int driver_create_file(struct device_driver *, struct
> > > driver_attribute *);
> > > extern void driver_remove_file(struct device_driver *, struct
> > > driver_attribute *);
> > > 
> > > 
> > > 	Dominik
> > 
> > Yes, I'm aware of these functions but they pollute the bus level
> > namespace.  I'm interested in reactions to this alternative approach.  I
> > wanted to explore the possibility of making a device driver instance a
> > separate component with its own individual state and relationships.
> 
> To be honest, I don't consider this to be a pollution of the "bus"
> namespace, but I fear that having two different places for somewhat similar,
> or even equal, data adds unneeded complexity to the driver model. In what
> specific instances has the current design limited or obstructed your
> intentions?
> 

Fair enough.  I just wanted to float this possibility.  I appreciate
your comments.  The original intention for this design was to begin
working on a framework for driver layering.  (ex. snd-intel8x0m -> ac97,
or the pci express bus abstraction)  I was considering the possibility
of having driver devices with parent and child relationships that
reflect the internal layering of Linux drivers.  I haven't really had a
chance to fully develop this idea, so at this point, driver layering and
my original email are just abstract concepts.

Adam


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