[patch 2.6.14-rc4 0/3] sk98lin: neuter and prepare for removal

[patch 2.6.14-rc4 0/3] sk98lin: neuter and prepare for removal

[John W. Linville]

These patches take steps towards removing sk98lin from the upstream
kernel.

	-- Remove sk98lin's MODULE_DEVICE_TABLE to avoid
	confusing userland tools about which driver to load;

	-- Mark sk98lin as Obsolete in the MAINTAINERS file; and,

	-- Add sk98lin to the feature-removal-schedule.txt file in the
	Documentation directory.

I accept the possibility that I may be jumping the gun on this.
However, I think it is worth opening this discussion.

Patches to follow...

[patch 2.6.14-rc4 1/3] sk98lin: remove MODULE_DEVICE_TABLE to avoid conflicts w/ skge

[John W. Linville]

The skge driver claims support for the identical list of hardware
supported by the in-kernel sk98lin driver.  This can confuse userland
tools which pick modules based on the PCI ID lists exported through
MODULE_DEVICE_TABLE.

This patch removes the MODULE_DEVICE_TABLE line from sk98lin.  The
driver can still be loaded manually if necessary or desireable.

Signed-off-by: John W. Linville <linville@tuxdriver.com>
---

 drivers/net/sk98lin/skge.c |    2 --
 1 files changed, 2 deletions(-)

diff --git a/drivers/net/sk98lin/skge.c b/drivers/net/sk98lin/skge.c
--- a/drivers/net/sk98lin/skge.c
+++ b/drivers/net/sk98lin/skge.c
@@ -5227,8 +5227,6 @@ static struct pci_device_id skge_pci_tbl
 	{ 0 }
 };
 
-MODULE_DEVICE_TABLE(pci, skge_pci_tbl);
-
 static struct pci_driver skge_driver = {
 	.name		= "sk98lin",
 	.id_table	= skge_pci_tbl,

[patch 2.6.14-rc4 2/3] MAINTAINERS: mark the sk98lin driver as obsolete

[John W. Linville]

The sk98lin and skge drivers cover the same set of hardware, and the
skge driver enjoys community support.  This patch marks the sk98lin
driver as obsolete.

Signed-off-by: John W. Linville <linville@tuxdriver.com>
---

 MAINTAINERS |    2 +-
 1 files changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/MAINTAINERS b/MAINTAINERS
--- a/MAINTAINERS
+++ b/MAINTAINERS
@@ -1592,7 +1592,7 @@ M: 	mlindner@syskonnect.de
 P:	Ralph Roesler
 M: 	rroesler@syskonnect.de
 W: 	http://www.syskonnect.com
-S: 	Supported
+S: 	Obsolete
 
 MAESTRO PCI SOUND DRIVERS
 P:	Zach Brown

[patch 2.6.14-rc4 3/3] Documentation: add sk98lin to the feature-removal-schedule

[John W. Linville]

The sk98lin and skge drivers cover the same set of hardware, yet the
sk98lin driver is barely maintained.  This patch schedules sk98lin
for removal early next year.

Signed-off-by: John W. Linville <linville@tuxdriver.com>
---

 Documentation/feature-removal-schedule.txt |    9 +++++++++
 1 files changed, 9 insertions(+)

diff --git a/Documentation/feature-removal-schedule.txt b/Documentation/feature-removal-schedule.txt
--- a/Documentation/feature-removal-schedule.txt
+++ b/Documentation/feature-removal-schedule.txt
@@ -95,3 +95,12 @@ Why:	This interface has been obsoleted b
 	to link against API-compatible library on top of libnfnetlink_queue 
 	instead of the current 'libipq'.
 Who:	Harald Welte <laforge@netfilter.org>
+
+---------------------------
+
+What:	sk98lin driver
+When:	April 2006
+Why:	This driver has been essentially unmaintained for some time.
+	Internally it is a mess, and the original authors are unwilling to
+	correct it.  Now the skge driver covers all the same hardware.
+Who:	John W. Linville <linville@tuxdriver.com>

Re: [patch 2.6.14-rc4 0/3] sk98lin: neuter and prepare for removal

[Stephen Hemminger]

John W. Linville wrote:

>These patches take steps towards removing sk98lin from the upstream
>kernel.
>
>	-- Remove sk98lin's MODULE_DEVICE_TABLE to avoid
>	confusing userland tools about which driver to load;
>
>	-- Mark sk98lin as Obsolete in the MAINTAINERS file; and,
>
>	-- Add sk98lin to the feature-removal-schedule.txt file in the
>	Documentation directory.
>
>I accept the possibility that I may be jumping the gun on this.
>However, I think it is worth opening this discussion.
>
>Patches to follow...
>  
>
I applaud the initiative, but this it is too premature to obsolete the 
existing driver. There may be lots of chip versions and other variables 
that make
the existing driver a better choice.  Maybe eepro100 is a better target
for removal right now.

Re: [patch 2.6.14-rc4 0/3] sk98lin: neuter and prepare for removal

[John W. Linville]

On Tue, Oct 18, 2005 at 06:38:24PM -0700, Stephen Hemminger wrote:
> John W. Linville wrote:
> 
> >These patches take steps towards removing sk98lin from the upstream
> >kernel.
> >
> >	-- Remove sk98lin's MODULE_DEVICE_TABLE to avoid
> >	confusing userland tools about which driver to load;

> I applaud the initiative, but this it is too premature to obsolete the 
> existing driver. There may be lots of chip versions and other variables 
> that make
> the existing driver a better choice.  Maybe eepro100 is a better target
> for removal right now.

That's cool...but I still think the first one (removing the
MODULE_DEVICE_TABLE) is worthwhile.  At least that gets more testers
for skge.

What do you think?

John
-- 
John W. Linville
linville@tuxdriver.com

Re: [patch 2.6.14-rc4 0/3] sk98lin: neuter and prepare for removal

[Jeff Garzik]

John W. Linville wrote:
> These patches take steps towards removing sk98lin from the upstream
> kernel.
> 
> 	-- Remove sk98lin's MODULE_DEVICE_TABLE to avoid
> 	confusing userland tools about which driver to load;
> 
> 	-- Mark sk98lin as Obsolete in the MAINTAINERS file; and,
> 
> 	-- Add sk98lin to the feature-removal-schedule.txt file in the
> 	Documentation directory.
> 
> I accept the possibility that I may be jumping the gun on this.
> However, I think it is worth opening this discussion.

I'll let Stephen make the call on this one (as he did...).

	Jeff