Re: Should "N/A" dust bunnies be swept from fw_version?

[Ben Hutchings <bhutchings@solarflare.com>]

On Thu, 2011-11-17 at 15:27 -0800, Rick Jones wrote:
> In the discussion on "enable virtio_net to return bus_info in ethtool -i 
> consistent with emulated NICs" Ben Hutchings had the following feedback 
> on what might go into bus_info:
> 
> > Please use the existing 'not implemented' value, which is the empty
> > string.   If you think ethtool should print some helpful message instead
> > of an empty string, please submit a patch for ethtool.
> 
> When I was sweeping in the .get_drvinfo routines, I noticed many drivers 
> would return "N/A" for fw_version - presumably they were drivers for 
> cards without firmware.  Should those be removed to have the fw_version 
> be the empty string, or should those sleeping dust bunnies be allowed to 
> lie?

I much prefer the empty string; the ethtool utility can turn that into a
user-friendly placeholder if it's considered confusing.

Ben.

-- 
Ben Hutchings, Staff Engineer, Solarflare
Not speaking for my employer; that's the marketing department's job.
They asked us to note that Solarflare product names are trademarked.