Re: [2.6 patch] ieee1394_core.c: remove unneeded EXPORT_SYMBOL's

Lee Revell
2004-12-20T23:00:29Z

On Mon, 2004-12-20 at 23:53 +0100, Adrian Bunk wrote:
> On Sun, Dec 19, 2004 at 11:27:50PM -0500, Dan Dennedy wrote:
> > On Sun, 2004-12-19 at 21:42 -0500, Lee Revell wrote:
> > > What do you tell a vendor who wants to write a driver for their device?
> > > "OK, about half the functions you need are in the kernel, the other half
> > > you have to port from this old kernel because we removed them. Maybe we
> > > will put them back if we really like your driver"?
> >
> > While I think some of Adrian's points are valid, I am exercising caution
> > because I am a new maintainer for linux1394 (although not new to the
> > project in general). This is an interface version management issue IMHO.
> > Adrian is not suggesting to remove the functions yet, but it is
> > effectively the same thing to an outsider. A vendor or services provider
> > would have to modify kernel source to let their driver work again, which
> > is not technically challenging to kernel hackers, but frustrating
> > situation to be in as a vendor or customer. It creates a mess in
> > support, distribution, deployment, etc.
>
> The solution is simple:
> The vendor or services provider submits his driver for inclusion into
> the kernel which is the best solution for everyone.
>

What if the driver is under development and doesn't work yet?

Lee