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Message-ID: <3A145806.FF5F0066@mandrakesoft.com>
Date: Thu, 16 Nov 2000 16:56:22 -0500
From: Jeff Garzik <jgarzik@mandrakesoft.com>
Organization: MandrakeSoft
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To: Tobias Ringstrom <tori@tellus.mine.nu>
CC: Kernel Mailing List <linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org>
Subject: Re: [CFT] dmfe.c network driver update for 2.4
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Tobias Ringstrom wrote:
> On Wed, 15 Nov 2000, Jeff Garzik wrote:
> > Tobias Ringstrom wrote:
> > > I have updated the dmfe.c network driver for 2.4.0-test by adding proper
> > > locking (I hope), and also made transmission much efficient.

> > Would you mind creating a separate patch that -just- correcting the SMP
> > safety?  That makes it much easier to review and apply, and then we can
> > consider the other changes...

> Such a patch will appear shortly. I and Frank Davis are currently merging
> our patches for dmfe.c.

Thanks a bunch.


> [Actually, I just added reasonable locks while my main goal was to improve
> performance. I did not realize that there was such a strong need for SMP
> safety (since it has been broken in that regard for a long time, without
> anyone fixing it).]

The kernel driver APIs are designed so that SMP and UP cases are equally
high-performance, and portable beyond the x86 platform.

Pretty much all ISA and PCI drivers need to be portable and SMP safe...
if not so, it's a bug.  That said, there is certainly more motivation to
make a popular PCI driver is SMP safe than an older ISA driver.  And
portability is [IMHO] less of a priority than SMP safety, though it
depends on the hardware being supported.

Regards,

	Jeff


-- 
Jeff Garzik             |
Building 1024           | The chief enemy of creativity is "good" sense
MandrakeSoft            |          -- Picasso
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