Re: [PATCH 8/9] ARM: multi_v7_defconfig: Add options to support TQMLS102xA series

Krzysztof Kozlowski
2023-01-21T20:27:59Z

On 20/01/2023 15:57, Russell King (Oracle) wrote:
> On Fri, Jan 20, 2023 at 12:35:41PM +0100, Krzysztof Kozlowski wrote:
>> Defconfig=y is only for critical stuff needed to bring initramfs. Time
>> is not needed for initramfs.
>
> Are I2C drivers "critical stuff"? What about AHCI drivers? What about
> all the USB HCI drivers? USB Storage can certainly be loaded from an
> initramfs, yet it's =y. LED triggers? Loads of RTC drivers that are
> marked as =y? XOR drivers? VIRTIO drivers? Filesystems? I seem to
> remember Red Hat sets even popular filesystems to be a module in their
> kernel.

Almost all your answers above - these should be =m. USB not always,
because it is used for USB Ethernet adapters which is used for network
boot (although even then initramfs comes with actual drivers...)

>
> Clearly, "defconfig=y is only for critical stuff" is rather false in
> practice, and I suspect is little more than a desire rather than a
> rule. I suspect it's more "defconfig=y is for stuff that makes most
> platforms successfully boot without an initramfs".

Yes, that's true, although there was already pushback against this.
Having an initramfs is not a big deal and nowadays I think all new ARMv8
platforms use it.

Anyway this talk here is about RTC which is not needed at all as built in.

Best regards,
Krzysztof