Return-path: Received: from smtp.codeaurora.org ([198.145.29.96]:34011 "EHLO smtp.codeaurora.org" rhost-flags-OK-OK-OK-OK) by vger.kernel.org with ESMTP id S1750878AbbIGKhM (ORCPT ); Mon, 7 Sep 2015 06:37:12 -0400 From: Kalle Valo To: Maxime Bizon Cc: Chor Teck Law , David Lin , Johannes Berg , "linux-wireless\@vger.kernel.org" , Pete Hsieh Subject: Re: [PATCH v5] Add new mac80211 driver mwlwifi. References: <92d77d0990b94d23ae66fb69fb55a6fb@SC-EXCH02.marvell.com> <1436455659.36587.131.camel@sakura.staff.proxad.net> <87vbcvyokg.fsf@kamboji.qca.qualcomm.com> <20150804224951.GA31383@sakura.staff.proxad.net> Date: Mon, 07 Sep 2015 13:37:04 +0300 In-Reply-To: <20150804224951.GA31383@sakura.staff.proxad.net> (Maxime Bizon's message of "Wed, 5 Aug 2015 00:49:51 +0200") Message-ID: <874mj6frcf.fsf@kamboji.qca.qualcomm.com> (sfid-20150907_123715_475649_3AADF6C6) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Sender: linux-wireless-owner@vger.kernel.org List-ID: Maxime Bizon writes: > but from my POV, your pattern is: build new chipset, obsolete previous > chipset, fork current firmware, make uncompatible changes to both > firmware & host driver to accomodate new chipset peculiarities. > > and eventually, if a customer requests a mainline linux driver, then > write one... this is what I'd call "dumping" BTW, this is exactly what I meant with "dumping" as well. Having multiple drivers with similar functionality is difficult for everyone. Creating a new driver with new bugs is much worse than making smaller, incremental changes to the existing driver. And of course code sharing is always preferred, but not a hard requirement for drivers. -- Kalle Valo