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Date:   Mon, 9 Oct 2023 16:43:03 -0700
From:   Stephen Hemminger <stephen@networkplumber.org>
To:     Rodolfo Zitellini <rwz@xhero.org>
Cc:     Arnd Bergmann <arnd@kernel.org>, Jakub Kicinski <kuba@kernel.org>,
        netdev@vger.kernel.org,
        Greg Kroah-Hartman <gregkh@linuxfoundation.org>,
        linux-wireless@vger.kernel.org,
        Johannes Berg <johannes@sipsolutions.net>,
        linux-wpan@vger.kernel.org,
        Michael Hennerich <michael.hennerich@analog.com>,
        Paolo Abeni <pabeni@redhat.com>,
        Eric Dumazet <edumazet@google.com>,
        "David S . Miller" <davem@davemloft.net>,
        linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org, Doug Brown <doug@schmorgal.com>,
        Arnd Bergmann <arnd@arndb.de>
Subject: Re: [PATCH 01/10] appletalk: remove localtalk and ppp support
Message-ID: <20231009164303.0fe2f556@hermes.local>
In-Reply-To: <790BA488-B6F6-41ED-96EF-2089EF1C043B@xhero.org>
References: <20231009141908.1767241-1-arnd@kernel.org>
        <790BA488-B6F6-41ED-96EF-2089EF1C043B@xhero.org>
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On Mon, 9 Oct 2023 18:49:43 +0200
Rodolfo Zitellini <rwz@xhero.org> wrote:

> Hi!
> I=E2=80=99ve been working on a new LocalTalk interface driver for the las=
t couple months, do you think it would be possible to at least postpone the=
 removal of LT a bit?
>=20
> It is a driver for an open source device called TashTalk (https://github.=
com/lampmerchant/tashtalk), which runs on a PIC micro that does all the LT =
interfacing, and communicates back via serial to the host system. My driver=
 is relatively simple and works very well with netatalk 2.2 (which is still=
 maintained and still has support for AppleTalk). The driver is basically c=
omplete and trsted and I was preparing to submit a patch.
>=20
> Still having LocalTalk in my view has many advantages for us enthusiasts =
that still want to bridge old machines to the current world without modific=
ations, for example for printing on modern printers, netbooting, sharing fi=
les and even tcp/ip. All this basically works out of the box via the driver=
, Linux and available userspace tools (netatalk, macipgw).
>=20
> The old ISA cards supported by COPS were basically unobtanium even 20 yea=
rs ago, but the solution of using a PIC and a serial port is very robust an=
d much more furure-proof. We also already have a device that can interface =
a modern machine directly via USB to LocalTalk.
>=20
> The development of the TashTalk has been also extensively discussed on th=
r 68KMLA forum (https://68kmla.org/bb/index.php?threads/modtashtalk-lt0-dri=
ver-for-linux.45031/)
>=20
> I hope the decision to remove LocalTalk can be reconsidered at least for =
the time being so there is a chance to submit a new, modern device making u=
se of this stack.
>=20
> Many Thanks,
> Rodolfo Zitellini

Does it really need it to be a kernel protocol stack?
What about doing it in userspace or with BPF?