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

Adrian Bunk
2004-12-20T23:14:34Z

On Mon, Dec 20, 2004 at 05:58:06PM -0500, Lee Revell wrote:
> 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?

For a driver developer, it shouldn't be a big problem to re-add an
EXPORT_SYMBOL or even to undo an #if 0 of a currently unused function.

> Lee

cu
Adrian

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