From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 From: Mark Lord Subject: Re: [PATCH] QStor SATA/RAID driver for 2.6.9-rc3 Date: Thu, 07 Oct 2004 16:17:33 -0400 Sender: linux-scsi-owner@vger.kernel.org Message-ID: <4165A45D.2090200@rtr.ca> References: <4161A06D.8010601@rtr.ca> <416547B6.5080505@rtr.ca> <20041007150709.B12688@infradead.org> <4165624C.5060405@rtr.ca> <416565DB.4050006@pobox.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Return-path: Received: from cpu1185.adsl.bellglobal.com ([207.236.110.166]:53437 "EHLO mail.rtr.ca") by vger.kernel.org with ESMTP id S268051AbUJGUTW (ORCPT ); Thu, 7 Oct 2004 16:19:22 -0400 In-Reply-To: <416565DB.4050006@pobox.com> List-Id: linux-scsi@vger.kernel.org To: Jeff Garzik Cc: Mark Lord , Christoph Hellwig , Linux Kernel , linux-scsi@vger.kernel.org Jeff Garzik wrote: > > We don't add hooks on the _hope_ that _future_ code will (a) use the > hooks and (b) be GPL'd. Sure we do. All of the time. All of the other RAID drivers in the kernel have ioctl() hooks for external code to control driver interfaces and settings. Except with that kind of interface, we never get an open-source version of that external code. With exported symbols to support a GPL source-code supplement, we get to see the code for all of it. In this case, that code is still being written, but it will be GPL in the end, simply because it will be a kernel module, which by definition is subject to the GPL. This module will NOT be submitted to the stock kernel initially, though, so you won't see it on lkml for some time. That's because of the hoops that vendors must jump through (repeatedly) just to provide good open-source kernel support. Given all of the fuss over this core driver (qstor.{ch}), there is simply no way the vendor wants to go through it all again for their RAID management module. So sure, it will be GPL and given away in source form (website, installation CD, etc..), but it won't appear here simply because we're making too hard for them to do so. The exports are needed if we want that component to be open source. Otherwise, they'll be replaced by ioctl()s like all of the other drivers, and that part of the source code may then never be released. Cheers -- Mark Lord (hdparm keeper & the original "Linux IDE Guy")