Re: [PATCH 2.6.20-rc3-mm1 2/2] libata: SiS 180 pata/sata support

[Alan <alan@lxorguk.ukuu.org.uk>]

> It is /very/ bad policy to force the user to load a driver that drives 
> real hardware, just to be able to access a few functions.  Hardware and 
> probe side effects are a very real possibility, and with this setup, the 

No they are not.

> user has /less/ control than normal over things such as load order when 
> pata_sis is loaded as a dependency.

Where did I put the 2x4

Right....

* Whack * ;)

The only probing the SiS driver does is for devices matching the SiS PCI
identifiers in question. Since they are intergrated bridges it's actually
physically impossible to obtain a box which contains both at once

* Whack * ;)

If it was added as a library then the non library driver would look
contain only a call to register the pci driver and a PCI table. The other
7.5K would be waste space. That also means there is no load order issue.

* Whack * ;)

Now if this was an ISA driver or poked around in ugly places your
argument would make sense. In this case I don't think your argument makes
sense, but if you want a pointless tiny pata_sis module to waste memory
on everyones boxes you can just ask and I'll send you a diff or two.

Alan