Re: [linux-dvb] XC4000 patches for kernel 2.6.37.2

[Mohammad Bahathir Hashim <bahathir@gmail.com>]

Thank you for the comments and pointers. I am happy, at least there
are peoples who want to see the xc4000 driver alive. 

On 2011-06-02, Mauro Carvalho Chehab <mchehab@redhat.com> wrote:
> Em 02-06-2011 12:53, Mohammad Bahathir Hashim escreveu:
>> Now I understood how thing works here, and it clear to me, why the
>> xc4000 driver is not being included in mainline V4L2. 
>> 
>> It will be lots of commitments and hard work to be the maintainer, and
>> I respect Mr. Devin's choice and decisions. There are several peoples
>> that are interested in this driver, such as Mr. Istvan. I realized
>> this driver does not have huge users/audiences, but still there are
>> peoples who really need it. But, yeah, not everybody can 'port' the
>> driver each time Linux kernel or V4L2 version being updated. 
>> 
>> In this case, IF no one is able to maintains the driver, how others
>> can benefit the 'updated' driver or patches for the new V4L2 or Linux
>> releases? 
>> 
>
> Out of tree drivers tend to become obsolete on a few kernel releases, as the
> internal kernel API's were not designed to be stable, as we want innovation
> inside the kernel. So, people are free to change the internal APIs when
> needed.
>
> That's why the best way is to submit patches upstream as they're ready
> for it.
>
>> At the moment I still be able to port and test it for my private use.
>> Sometime I sent the patches to Mr.  Istvan to be included in his
>> xc4000 driver's website, for  other users to use it. 
>> 
>> BTW, I am not a programmer. I am just a system administrator, who only
>> like to use shell scripts, awk, sed and grep. I only know how 'read' C,
>> and can do SIMPLE 'porting' and testing tasks :). Still I really hope
>> other developers able to include the analog TV/FM tuning and S-Video input
>> feature to PCTV-340e. 
>> 
>> Anyway, if this driver is not elligible to be included in V4L2
>> mainline, I know where to 'push' my patches. :)
>
> Almost all drivers are eligible to be included, but the author needs to 
> submit them, or someone on their behalf. If the driver doesn't have enough
> quality or needs some fixes, the submitter may need to fix it or, eventually,
> move it to staging.
>
> With respect to xc4000, we need someone to test if the driver works after
> the backports. Please test it and answer to us with a "Tested-by" tag.
>
> After the tests, it would be great to apply any pending patches for xc4000
> before cleaning it, as if we do the reverse, existing patches won't apply.
>
> Cheers,
> Mauro
>