Re: [PATCH] bcm43xx: remove ethtool

[Jeff Garzik <jeff@garzik.org>]

Larry Finger wrote:
> Jeff Garzik wrote:
>> Larry Finger wrote:
>>> Ethtool is useless for bcm43xx - remove it.
>>>
>>> Signed-off-by: Larry Finger <Larry.Finger@lwfinger.net>
>> How is GDRVINFO useless?  Where does mac80211 provide equivalent
>> information?
> 
> I cannot speak for mac80211, but the current implementation for SoftMAC only implements the GDRVINFO
> call. From it, you get that the driver is bcm43xx (big surprise), the kernel version (easier gotten
> by a uname -r), and the bus info. None of the operational parameters can be changed or interrogated.
> 
> Is this enough to keep the ethtool interface? Because of the EOL for SoftMAC, this code will never
> be enhanced or extended. Does some userland code need this info?

It's a highly standardized interface that provides information that's 
either impossible or highly difficult to obtain elsewhere.

If you are a userland process querying a network interface, that's the 
only way to know which driver is attached, or the only way to build an 
association between a PCI device and a network interface.

So NAK this change.  All network drivers should implement GDRVINFO, even 
if they are not strictly ethernet drivers.

	Jeff