Return-Path: Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org via listexpand id S1763016AbXF1P3A (ORCPT ); Thu, 28 Jun 2007 11:29:00 -0400 Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org id S1757042AbXF1P2x (ORCPT ); Thu, 28 Jun 2007 11:28:53 -0400 Received: from hosting.zipcon.net ([209.221.136.3]:40523 "EHLO hosting.zipcon.net" rhost-flags-OK-OK-OK-OK) by vger.kernel.org with ESMTP id S1756745AbXF1P2w (ORCPT ); Thu, 28 Jun 2007 11:28:52 -0400 Message-ID: <4683D3B0.1040708@beezmo.com> Date: Thu, 28 Jun 2007 08:28:48 -0700 From: William D Waddington User-Agent: Thunderbird 1.5.0.12 (Windows/20070509) MIME-Version: 1.0 To: Helge Hafting CC: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org, Al Boldi Subject: Re: Please release a stable kernel Linux 3.0 References: <4683983E.5020103@aitel.hist.no> In-Reply-To: <4683983E.5020103@aitel.hist.no> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-AntiAbuse: This header was added to track abuse, please include it with any abuse report X-AntiAbuse: Primary Hostname - hosting.zipcon.net X-AntiAbuse: Original Domain - vger.kernel.org X-AntiAbuse: Originator/Caller UID/GID - [0 0] / [47 12] X-AntiAbuse: Sender Address Domain - beezmo.com X-Source: X-Source-Args: X-Source-Dir: Sender: linux-kernel-owner@vger.kernel.org X-Mailing-List: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org Content-Length: 2264 Lines: 57 Helge Hafting wrote: > Bill Waddington wrote: >> (And taking my drivers main-line isn't an option. It would be fine >> with me, but there is *zero* chance that my funky code would be >> welcomed into the tree.) >> > If the only merge-stopper is code quality, why not > post your driver and get some feedback? Cleaning up code > will take some effort of course; > but once it is done, you're protected from module API changes. . . Fair enough: http://www.tahomatech.com/downloads/drivers/linux_2.6/pci/x86/compressed_tarfiles/ or for your browsing pleasure: http://www.tahomatech.com/downloads/drivers/linux_2.6/pci/x86/files/ But I really don't see much hope :( Coding style, masses of ioctls, build and install technique, limited user base, etc, etc, etc... Most of the above to keep API compatibility with other OS/older drivers - back to SunOS 4.1.3. (BTW, it does seem to work...) And I probably have the license wrong. The code has always been in the public domain. (Advice welcome...) It really isn't that important to me to get this into the mainline, or to have a stable kernel API. I _might_ argue that a stable and well documented kernel API (DKI) is a sign of a grown-up OS, but I won't :) It isn't that hard to recode for API changes. There's always LDD17 or 18 or 99 or whatever... My (mild) beef is more like what I take to be Al's point: it feels like there is a kind of hostility toward out-of-tree maintainers. Why not encourage _all_ of us who are beavering away at open-source code? My stuff doesn't belong in mainline, but it _is_ open, and in some minor way allows more folks to run Linux. A cleaned-up, consistent, and out-of-tree friendly way of handling API changes might help us all. Thanks for listening, Bill -- -------------------------------------------- William D Waddington Bainbridge Island, WA, USA william.waddington@beezmo.com -------------------------------------------- "Even bugs...are unexpected signposts on the long road of creativity..." - Ken Burtch - 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/