RE: [EXT] Re: [PATCH net-next 14/14] qed: bump driver version

Michal Kalderon
2020-01-22T16:39:32Z

> From: Leon Romanovsky <leon@kernel.org>
> Sent: Wednesday, January 22, 2020 6:14 PM
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> On Wed, Jan 22, 2020 at 05:26:27PM +0200, Michal Kalderon wrote:
> > The FW brings along a large set of fixes and features which will be
> > added at a later phase. This is an adaquete point to bump the driver
> version.
> >
> > Signed-off-by: Ariel Elior <ariel.elior@marvell.com>
> > Signed-off-by: Michal Kalderon <michal.kalderon@marvell.com>
> > ---
> > drivers/net/ethernet/qlogic/qed/qed.h | 2 +-
> > 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-)
> >
>
> We discussed this a lot, those driver version bumps are stupid and have
> nothing close to the reality. Distro kernels are based on some kernel version
> with extra patches on top, in RedHat world this "extra"
> is a lot. For them your driver version say nothing. For users who run vanilla
> kernel, those versions are not relevant too, because running such kernels
> requires knowledge and understanding.
>
> You definitely should stop this enterprise cargo cult of "releasing software"
> by updating versions in non-controlled by you distribution chain.
>
> Thanks
Due to past discussions on this topic, qedr driver version was not added and not bumped.
However, customers are used to seeing a driver version for qed/qede
We only bump major version changes (37 -> 42) and not the minor versions anymore.
This does give a high-level understanding of the driver supports, helps us and the customers.