Re: How does "alias ethX drivername" in modules.conf work?

[Josh Wyatt <jdwyatt@Bellsouth.net>]

Why not have a provision like the following:
1. For a given driver, assign ethX in [ascending|descending] (pick one)
order based on MAC addr.  At least this is a predictable order; it
should never change for a given driver.

2. If it's modular, you could make it even more flexible with options:
alias eth0 eepro100
alias eth1 ne2k-pci
alias eth2 eepro100
options eepro100 "bind_mac_order=eth0,eth2
bind_mac_list=00D0B760C299,00D0B760C3DC"

3. if it's modular and insmod'ed with no options, default to a combo of
the current behavior and #1, above.

Of course, you'd have to rely on the module maintainers to follow the
convention.

Also, I can see a potential dependency manifested in a scenario like
this:
1. add eth0, eth1, eth2 as above
2. un-hot-plug eth0.  now hotplug another interface, not used by the
previous driver
3. eepro100 driver is still bound to eth0
4. should the new device get eth3?  or eth0?  
5. Is this a textbook problem outside of PCMCIA?

Dumb? Klutzy? thoughts?

Thanks,
Josh