Return-Path: Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org via listexpand id S1422863AbXBANWz (ORCPT ); Thu, 1 Feb 2007 08:22:55 -0500 Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org id S1422865AbXBANWy (ORCPT ); Thu, 1 Feb 2007 08:22:54 -0500 Received: from wx-out-0506.google.com ([66.249.82.230]:40434 "EHLO wx-out-0506.google.com" rhost-flags-OK-OK-OK-OK) by vger.kernel.org with ESMTP id S1422863AbXBANWw (ORCPT ); Thu, 1 Feb 2007 08:22:52 -0500 DomainKey-Signature: a=rsa-sha1; c=nofws; d=gmail.com; s=beta; h=received:message-id:date:from:to:subject:cc:in-reply-to:mime-version:content-type:content-transfer-encoding:content-disposition:references; b=MjAgrTY8Lhg07VKMZDpXhOeckgWQAeXJLUr7ltsh7oV+D/85ZrMQh79nsPLELLtWdJa169n+OSXbz8bK0y5ZXAQikHUk/KVuGoql68IJepVB499yDNoRlmpi6E6Ra8ocLYMUAt5QdIRbCOLYxmcQRs3GvL9DWr0en370J7uPsSI= Message-ID: <9a8748490702010522y7b9cd16y85602ed444263213@mail.gmail.com> Date: Thu, 1 Feb 2007 14:22:51 +0100 From: "Jesper Juhl" To: "Bartlomiej Zolnierkiewicz" Subject: Re: Rewriting floppy.c was Re: Free Linux Driver Development! Cc: "Andi Kleen" , "Greg KH" , "Adrian Bunk" , "Roland Dreier" , linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org In-Reply-To: <58cb370e0702010512j51cc2d06w6ffa6df12bbc99f6@mail.gmail.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Disposition: inline References: <20070130012904.GA9617@kroah.com> <20070130191020.GF20642@kroah.com> <20070131011340.GP3754@stusta.de> <20070131012428.GA31759@kroah.com> <58cb370e0702010512j51cc2d06w6ffa6df12bbc99f6@mail.gmail.com> Sender: linux-kernel-owner@vger.kernel.org X-Mailing-List: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org Content-Length: 2685 Lines: 65 On 01/02/07, Bartlomiej Zolnierkiewicz wrote: > On 31 Jan 2007 11:08:14 +0100, Andi Kleen wrote: > > Greg KH writes: > > > > > > What? Throw a fresh-faced newbie instantly into the tar-pit of despair > > > that floppy.c is? Do you want everyone just to run screaming from > > > kernel development never to be seen again? > > floppy.c is not really that ugly or complicated... > > It just needs some care: > > * cleanup of the over-usage of macros (DP macro etc) > * DocBook documentation would be nice > * make debugging printks optional by using macros in a smart way > (see libata code for examples) > * tracking and fixing current regressions > > Once the above is done there would be more room > for the future cleanups and improvements like: > > * using bios directly in copy_buffer() > (or avoiding copy completely if possible - need somebody to look at code) > * map user pages instead of memcpy-ing them in fd_copy{in,out}() > * unifying/merging arch specific code into floppy.c (not sure of this one) > * smarter way to handle IRQs > > floppy.c rewrite offers an unique chance to learn by practice > from doing simple tasks (macros cleanup) to more advances ones > (involving block layer mechanisms) up to really difficult ones > (IRQ/"actual work" handling methods). > > I could help with reviewing patches in case anybody is interested > and have patience to deal with few days delays for reply. However > please don't add me to MAINTAINERS as floppy diver maintainer. > > :) > > > Doing a from-scratch rewrite of floppy.c only supporting new > > hardware and no obscure formats ("newfloppy.c") would be an excellent > > newbie project imho. This means for someone who is still pretty > > new, but wants to get their fingers wet with more complicated changes. > > > > Then over time (old-)floppy.c could be phased out. > > * this is unlikely that we need to add support for new hardware > * by doing the rewrite from scratch we will lose changes history > and possibility to easily track regressions > * for a long time we would have to deal with both drivers > > This is just not worth it IMHO. > Good points. I'll try cleaning up the existing driver instead of doing a complete rewrite. -- Jesper Juhl Don't top-post http://www.catb.org/~esr/jargon/html/T/top-post.html Plain text mails only, please http://www.expita.com/nomime.html - 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/