From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Return-Path: X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.0 (2014-02-07) on aws-us-west-2-korg-lkml-1.web.codeaurora.org Received: from vger.kernel.org (vger.kernel.org [23.128.96.18]) by smtp.lore.kernel.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 04749C433F5 for ; Mon, 2 May 2022 15:10:08 +0000 (UTC) Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org via listexpand id S1385672AbiEBPNf (ORCPT ); Mon, 2 May 2022 11:13:35 -0400 Received: from lindbergh.monkeyblade.net ([23.128.96.19]:47420 "EHLO lindbergh.monkeyblade.net" rhost-flags-OK-OK-OK-OK) by vger.kernel.org with ESMTP id S1352318AbiEBPNe (ORCPT ); Mon, 2 May 2022 11:13:34 -0400 Received: from ams.source.kernel.org (ams.source.kernel.org [IPv6:2604:1380:4601:e00::1]) by lindbergh.monkeyblade.net (Postfix) with ESMTPS id 8987511A20; Mon, 2 May 2022 08:10:05 -0700 (PDT) Received: from smtp.kernel.org (relay.kernel.org [52.25.139.140]) (using TLSv1.2 with cipher ECDHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384 (256/256 bits)) (No client certificate requested) by ams.source.kernel.org (Postfix) with ESMTPS id 43129B81047; Mon, 2 May 2022 15:10:04 +0000 (UTC) Received: by smtp.kernel.org (Postfix) with ESMTPSA id 9CB2DC385AC; Mon, 2 May 2022 15:10:02 +0000 (UTC) DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/simple; d=kernel.org; s=k20201202; t=1651504203; bh=1RDGYiWyZBH6Vi3qxYM1IjfyxCY9T/y3uWX30lhUTaA=; h=Date:From:To:Cc:Subject:In-Reply-To:References:From; b=JlhNxiGUN/aUI2exVkpMiE5f4bKU7CldyrKbLnwkQ8DK7Tmpq6YQns+DPwXsQmk1L eULFT6Q+PW1eQAg1FaQrBAdi8ftzs9jagq3MCzSznHz/oJGlBOZH3MzDXaRrnTvyZv sMujZSWyby0Q/ltjyerC5vzji6YMsjS0DRPs6je/vMd1UYyjZP0+5AiZ6t4COSpltN PRYKMD0oObsAhGPVLv7Qx8iosrmIpullIqP8at+c6x48fOrKTgNEtCcDIB7earyy95 PoMH0vO/lZZLvViY/RBjcYG613/y/84MwK/Mz4EkR8Oyf1j3sASAlyUdriYsxUgq2j hoeJPvMcuLoYA== Date: Mon, 2 May 2022 08:10:01 -0700 From: Jakub Kicinski To: Jonathan Corbet Cc: Greg Kroah-Hartman , Arnd Bergmann , torvalds@linux-foundation.org, workflows@vger.kernel.org, linux-doc@vger.kernel.org, Thomas Osterried Subject: Re: Driver graveyard Message-ID: <20220502081001.6135b370@kernel.org> In-Reply-To: <87ee1cxb2o.fsf@meer.lwn.net> References: <20220502071818.5101c752@kernel.org> <87ee1cxb2o.fsf@meer.lwn.net> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Precedence: bulk List-ID: X-Mailing-List: linux-doc@vger.kernel.org On Mon, 02 May 2022 08:29:03 -0600 Jonathan Corbet wrote: > Jakub Kicinski writes: > > > Thomas suggested that it may be nice to create some form of a record > > for drivers which were retired from the tree. I think a code-centric > > equivalent of CREDITS could be a good idea. > > > > Does such a record already exist somewhere? If not any thoughts on > > creating a file storing (Kconfig, short description, commit which > > removed the driver)? E.g. > > > > > > K: DMASCC > > D: Hamradio high-speed (DMA) SCC driver for AX.25. Driver supported > > D: Ottawa PI/PI2, Paccomm/Gracilis D: PackeTwin, and S5SCC/DMA boards. > > C: 865e2eb08f51 > > So what is the purpose for this file? And more to the point, I guess: > is there a need for it to be strictly machine-readable? If the > objective is to remember our history to minimize our chances of > repeating it, something more prose-oriented might work better. To be honest I found the existence of the CREDITS file useful when removing stale MAINTAINERS entries. A move seems less hostile than a erasure (using a very broad definition of "move" in case of drivers). Anything that makes people feel more at ease when I remove their driver would be helpful. The only practical (i.e. not armchair-psychology-based) use I can think of is if someone is about to sit down and write a new driver they may grep the tree for the name of the HW, and they may find the graveyard entry. So I think listing the exact HW supported is useful. That said as I'm writing this I'm reminded how old the hypothetical HW in the previous sentence likely is. I used the machine-readable format following CREDITS. I figured CREDITS serves no practical purpose either today, in hindsight that's a bit ahistoric.