Re: [patch 2.6.19-rc6] fix hotplug for legacy platform drivers

[md@Linux.IT (Marco d'Itri)]

On Dec 05, David Brownell <david-b@pacbell.net> wrote:

> The pushback on $SUBJECT patch.  Which amounts to wanting to break hotplug
> for several busses, unless someone (NOT the folk promoting the breakage!)
Please explain in more details how hotplugging would be broken, possibly
with examples.

> There are really two issues here:
> 
>  - The "real one", as (yes!) fixed by the $SUBJECT patch.  Troublesome legacy
>    drivers, like "i82365", written so they can't hotplug ... but the kernel
>    hasn't previously known that.
> 
>  - The confusion, caused by a false identification of the "i82365" issue
>    being a problem related to module aliasing ... instead of being rooted in
>    the fact that it's a "legacy style" non-hotpluggable driver, since it
>    creates its own device node.

Nonsense. The purpose of $MODALIAS is to allow automatically loading
modules using the information provided by the bus driver.
Because of this reason there is no point for a driver to provide a
$MODALIAS referring to itself. It will only waste resources causing udev
to try loading it again.

-- 
ciao,
Marco