From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 From: Pavel Roskin Subject: Re: [Madwifi-devel] ANNOUNCE: SFLC helps developers assess ar5k (enabling free Atheros HAL) Date: Wed, 15 Nov 2006 14:39:01 -0500 Message-ID: <1163619541.19111.6.camel@dv> References: <20061115031025.GH3451@tuxdriver.com> <200611151942.14596.mb@bu3sch.de> <20061115192054.GA10009@tuxdriver.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Cc: Michael Buesch , netdev@vger.kernel.org, linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org, madwifi-devel@lists.sourceforge.net, lwn@lwn.net Return-path: Received: from fencepost.gnu.org ([199.232.76.164]:3004 "EHLO fencepost.gnu.org") by vger.kernel.org with ESMTP id S1161169AbWKOTjJ (ORCPT ); Wed, 15 Nov 2006 14:39:09 -0500 Received: from proski by fencepost.gnu.org with local (Exim 4.34) id 1GkQbD-0001f9-C0 for netdev@vger.kernel.org; Wed, 15 Nov 2006 14:39:07 -0500 To: "John W. Linville" In-Reply-To: <20061115192054.GA10009@tuxdriver.com> Sender: netdev-owner@vger.kernel.org List-Id: netdev.vger.kernel.org Hello! On Wed, 2006-11-15 at 14:21 -0500, John W. Linville wrote: > On Wed, Nov 15, 2006 at 07:42:14PM +0100, Michael Buesch wrote: > > > Now that it seems to be ok to use these openbsd sources, should I port > > them to my driver framework? > > I looked over the ar5k code and, well, I don't like it. ;) > > I don't really like having a HAL. I'd rather prefer a "real" driver > > without that HAL obfuscation. > > I don't think anyone likes the HAL-based architecture. I don't think > we will accept a HAL-based driver into the upstream kernel. I said it before, and it's worth repeating. Dissolving HAL in the sources is easy. It's just a matter of moving functions around without serious chances of breaking anything as long as the source compiles. The whole "HAL-based architecture" can be reshuffled and eliminated by one person in a few days. Making things work properly takes years. That's what MadWifi has been working on for a long time, using contributions and bug reports from scores of users and developers. Rejecting MadWifi because it's HAL based is like throwing away a diamond ring because it's too narrow. -- Regards, Pavel Roskin