Re: [PATCH net-next] net: appletalk: remove Apple/Farallon LocalTalk PC support

[Jakub Kicinski <kuba@kernel.org>]

On Mon, 9 May 2022 19:14:42 +0200 Arnd Bergmann wrote:
> On Mon, May 9, 2022 at 5:01 PM Jakub Kicinski <kuba@kernel.org> wrote:
> >
> > Looks like all the changes to this driver had been tree-wide
> > refactoring since git era begun. The driver is using virt_to_bus()
> > we should make it use more modern DMA APIs but since it's unlikely
> > to be getting any use these days delete it instead. We can always
> > revert to bring it back.
> >
> > Signed-off-by: Jakub Kicinski <kuba@kernel.org>  
> 
> Removing this driver sounds good to me, your description makes sense
> and it gets us closer to completely removing virt_to_bus() in the future.
> 
> Acked-by: Arnd Bergmann <arnd@arndb.de>
> 
> I think however, if we remove this driver, we need to discuss removing the
> last remaining localtalk driver (CONFIG_COPS) and possibly the localtalk
> bits in net/appletalk along with it.
> 
> Doug Brown suggested removing COPS last year for entirely different
> reasons[1] but never got a reply. I suppose that is a sign that nobody
> cared about the driver enough, but we should remove it. He also
> mentioned working on a new localtalk driver, though I don't think he
> posted that one yet.
> 
>        Arnd
> 
> [1] https://lore.kernel.org/netdev/6c62d7d5-5171-98a3-5287-ecb1df20f574@schmorgal.com/

Very interesting, thanks!

Removing COPS and appletalk makes perfect sense to me (minus what Doug
has plans to use, obviously).

I'm taking notes for "next steps" while trying to strategically cast 
a narrow net, hitting VIRT_TO_BUS only now.