Return-Path: Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org via listexpand id S1759353AbXEMUZQ (ORCPT ); Sun, 13 May 2007 16:25:16 -0400 Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org id S1755763AbXEMUZE (ORCPT ); Sun, 13 May 2007 16:25:04 -0400 Received: from nic.NetDirect.CA ([216.16.235.2]:36327 "EHLO rubicon.netdirect.ca" rhost-flags-OK-OK-OK-OK) by vger.kernel.org with ESMTP id S1755052AbXEMUZD (ORCPT ); Sun, 13 May 2007 16:25:03 -0400 X-Originating-Ip: 72.143.66.196 Date: Sun, 13 May 2007 16:24:09 -0400 (EDT) From: "Robert P. J. Day" X-X-Sender: rpjday@localhost.localdomain To: Stefan Richter cc: Bernd Eckenfels , linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org Subject: Re: undeprecate raw driver. In-Reply-To: <46476FBF.5010803@s5r6.in-berlin.de> Message-ID: References: <46476FBF.5010803@s5r6.in-berlin.de> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII X-Net-Direct-Inc-MailScanner-Information: Please contact the ISP for more information X-Net-Direct-Inc-MailScanner: Found to be clean X-Net-Direct-Inc-MailScanner-SpamCheck: not spam, SpamAssassin (not cached, score=-16.8, required 5, autolearn=not spam, ALL_TRUSTED -1.80, BAYES_00 -15.00, INIT_RECVD_OUR_AUTH -20.00, RCVD_IN_SORBS_DUL 20.00) X-Net-Direct-Inc-MailScanner-From: rpjday@mindspring.com Sender: linux-kernel-owner@vger.kernel.org X-Mailing-List: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org Content-Length: 2390 Lines: 58 On Sun, 13 May 2007, Stefan Richter wrote: > Except that the term "obsolete" is already used differently in the > context of Linux kernel features; see Documentation/ABI/README. no, it isn't. in fact, it's used in that file *exactly* the way i've been defining it: "obsolete/" "This directory documents interfaces that are still remaining in the kernel, but are marked to be removed at some later point in time. The description of the interface will document the reason why it is obsolete and when it can be expected to be removed. The file Documentation/feature-removal-schedule.txt may describe some of these interfaces, giving a schedule for when they will be removed." note the salient points of what is considered "obsolete": * yes, it's still in the kernel * it may already be scheduled to be removed * it's documented why that interface is ***obsolete*** and is scheduled for removal look carefully, stefan -- note what's missing from that explanation: the word "deprecated" which, IMHO, means something quite different. at this point, i've explained several times already what i think is the difference between these two terms, and why i think it's an *important* difference and how those terms should be used to guarantee clarity. you clearly disagree and there's absolutely nothing i can say at this point that's going to get through to you and i'm as thoroughly tired of trying to explain it to you as i'm sure everyone else is of reading it. so let's just accept that any further discussion on this topic is a waste of time. and we can leave things the way they are, and things will continue to be mis-labelled and people will, on a regular basis, continue to submit patches to remove things that claim to be "obsolete" but which aren't, and this whole freakin' debate will start all over again. happy now? rday -- ======================================================================== Robert P. J. Day Linux Consulting, Training and Annoying Kernel Pedantry Waterloo, Ontario, CANADA http://fsdev.net/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page ======================================================================== - 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/