Re: RFD: Kernel release numbering

Andrew Morton
2005-03-03T04:46:45Z

Dave Jones <davej@redhat.com> wrote:
>
> On Wed, Mar 02, 2005 at 04:00:46PM -0800, Linus Torvalds wrote:
>
> > I would not keep regular driver updates from a 2.6.<even> thing.
>
> Then the notion of it being stable is bogus, given how many regressions
> the last few kernels have brought in drivers. Moving from 2.6.9 -> 2.6.10
> broke ALSA, USB, parport, firewire, and countless other little bits and
> pieces that users tend to notice.

Grump. Have all these regressions received the appropriate level of
visibility on this mailing list?

I too am a little put off by the number of regressions which certain
(admittedly tricky) subsystems keep on introducing. One does wonder how
careful people are being at the development stage. And that's a thing
which we can surely fix.

For example, here's today's crop (so far):

include/linux/soundcard.h:195: warning: `_PATCHKEY' redefined
include/linux/awe_voice.h:33: warning: this is the location of the previous definition
drivers/i2c/chips/ds1337.c:60: `I2C_DRIVERID_DS1337' undeclared here (not in a function)
drivers/i2c/chips/ds1337.c:60: initializer element is not constant
drivers/i2c/chips/ds1337.c:60: (near initialization for `ds1337_driver.id')
drivers/i2c/chips/ds1337.c: In function `ds1337_get_datetime':
drivers/i2c/chips/ds1337.c:155: structure has no member named `id'
drivers/i2c/chips/ds1337.c: In function `ds1337_set_datetime':
drivers/i2c/chips/ds1337.c:206: structure has no member named `id'
drivers/i2c/chips/ds1337.c: In function `ds1337_detect':
drivers/i2c/chips/ds1337.c:333: structure has no member named `id'
drivers/i2c/chips/ds1337.c:343: structure has no member named `id'
make[3]: *** [drivers/i2c/chips/ds1337.o] Error 1
make[2]: *** [drivers/i2c/chips] Error 2
make[1]: *** [drivers/i2c] Error 2
make[1]: *** Waiting for unfinished jobs....
sound/pci/als4000.c: In function `snd_als4000_create_gameport':
sound/pci/als4000.c:572: warning: `r' might be used uninitialized in this function
drivers/char/watchdog/alim1535_wdt.c:319: warning: `ali_pci_tbl' defined but not used
drivers/char/sx.c:255: warning: `sx_pci_tbl' defined but not used
drivers/char/applicom.c:68: warning: `applicom_pci_tbl' defined but not used
make: *** [drivers] Error 2
make: *** Waiting for unfinished jobs....
sound/pci/trident/trident_main.c: In function `snd_trident_gameport_trigger':
sound/pci/trident/trident_main.c:3125: warning: `return' with a value, in function returning void

> For it to truly be a stable kernel, the only patches I'd expect to
> drivers would be ones fixing blindingly obvious bugs. No cleanups.
> No new functionality. I'd even question new hardware support if it
> wasn't just a PCI ID addition.

Agree.