Re: Should "N/A" dust bunnies be swept from fw_version?

[Rick Jones <rick.jones2@hp.com>]

On 11/17/2011 04:19 PM, Ben Hutchings wrote:
> On Thu, 2011-11-17 at 15:27 -0800, Rick Jones wrote:
>> In the discussion on "enable virtio_net to return bus_info in ethtool -i
>> consistent with emulated NICs" Ben Hutchings had the following feedback
>> on what might go into bus_info:
>>
>>> Please use the existing 'not implemented' value, which is the empty
>>> string.   If you think ethtool should print some helpful message instead
>>> of an empty string, please submit a patch for ethtool.
>>
>> When I was sweeping in the .get_drvinfo routines, I noticed many drivers
>> would return "N/A" for fw_version - presumably they were drivers for
>> cards without firmware.  Should those be removed to have the fw_version
>> be the empty string, or should those sleeping dust bunnies be allowed to
>> lie?
>
> I much prefer the empty string; the ethtool utility can turn that into a
> user-friendly placeholder if it's considered confusing.

Any other opinions out there?  Anyone? Anyone?-)

rick jones