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Date:   Mon, 23 Oct 2023 21:40:09 +0200
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Subject: Re: [PATCH 10/10] [RFC] wifi: remove ipw2100/ipw2200 drivers
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To:     Arnd Bergmann <arnd@kernel.org>
Cc:     linux-wireless@vger.kernel.org
References: <20231023131953.2876682-1-arnd@kernel.org>
 <20231023131953.2876682-11-arnd@kernel.org>
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Am 23.10.23 um 15:19 schrieb Arnd Bergmann:
> From: Arnd Bergmann <arnd@arndb.de>
>
> These two drivers were used for the earliest "Centrino" branded Intel
> laptops during the late 32-bit Pentium-M era, roughly 2003 to 2005, which
> probably makes it the most modern platform that still uses the wireless
> extension interface instead of cfg80211. Unlike the other drivers that
> are suggested for removal, this one is still officially maintained.
>
> According to Johannes Berg, there was an effort to finish the move away
> from wext in the past, but the last evidence of this that I could find
> is from commit a3caa99e6c68f ("libipw: initiate cfg80211 API conversion
> (v2)") in 2009.
>
> Link: https://lore.kernel.org/all/87fs2fgals.fsf@kernel.org/
> Cc: Stanislav Yakovlev <stas.yakovlev@gmail.com>
> Cc: Linux Wireless <ilw@linux.intel.com>
> Signed-off-by: Arnd Bergmann <arnd@arndb.de>
> ---
> I'm not convinced this should be in the same set of drivers as the
> rest, since this is clearly less obsolete than the other hardware
> that I would remove support for.
> ---

FYI, I'm still using this driver in my old diagnostic laptop.
I din't test recent kernels (yet), but the only issue I noticed over the 
years is that I can't connect to hidden networks (IIRC that never worked).

So I personally would be happy if the driver could remain for a while.
But I don't care too much. If noone else uses it and/or it is too hard 
to maintain - R.I.P.