Re: Class device namespaces

[Matt Domsch <Matt_Domsch@dell.com>]

On Mon, Apr 27, 2009 at 05:30:05PM +0200, Jean Delvare wrote:
> On Sun, 26 Apr 2009 08:01:22 -0500, Matt Domsch wrote:
> > I'll note there is a second implementation that uses dell_rbu, and
> > that is included in each and every "Dell Update Package" (aka DUP)
> > BIOS update posted on support.dell.com for every Dell PowerEdge server
> > for the past several years.  Because the updater and they BIOS payload
> > are packaged in the same package, a change which would require
> > changing that updater will result in requiring Dell to spin and
> > re-release hundreds of DUPs, which would not go over well...  Thank
> > you for being careful not to change the interface capriciously - it
> > could have a huge impact on us.
> 
> I'll be careful, but you have to admit that duplicating utility code
> like this is poor engineering from Dell :( I don't want to think of the
> mess it will be if you ever have to fix a critical bug in that code.

Yes, this is well-understood, and steps are in process to address this
model.  http://linux.dell.com/firmware-tools is the preferred model,
with split inventory/execution components from firmware payloads.

Thanks,
Matt

-- 
Matt Domsch
Linux Technology Strategist, Dell Office of the CTO
linux.dell.com & www.dell.com/linux