Re: [PATCH net-next 0/8] bridge: mcast: Preparations for EVPN extensions

[Nikolay Aleksandrov <razor@blackwall.org>]

On 05/12/2022 09:42, Ido Schimmel wrote:
> This patchset was split from [1] and includes non-functional changes
> aimed at making it easier to add additional netlink attributes later on.
> Future extensions are available here [2].
> 
> The idea behind these patches is to create an MDB configuration
> structure into which netlink messages are parsed into. The structure is
> then passed in the entry creation / deletion call chain instead of
> passing the netlink attributes themselves. The same pattern is used by
> other rtnetlink objects such as routes and nexthops.
> 
> I initially tried to extend the current code, but it proved to be too
> difficult, which is why I decided to refactor it to the extensible and
> familiar pattern used by other rtnetlink objects.
> 
> Tested using existing selftests and using a new selftest that will be
> submitted together with the planned extensions.
> 
> No changes since initial RFC.
> 
> [1] https://lore.kernel.org/netdev/20221018120420.561846-1-idosch@nvidia.com/
> [2] https://github.com/idosch/linux/commits/submit/mdb_v1
> 
> Ido Schimmel (8):
>   bridge: mcast: Centralize netlink attribute parsing
>   bridge: mcast: Remove redundant checks
>   bridge: mcast: Use MDB configuration structure where possible
>   bridge: mcast: Propagate MDB configuration structure further
>   bridge: mcast: Use MDB group key from configuration structure
>   bridge: mcast: Remove br_mdb_parse()
>   bridge: mcast: Move checks out of critical section
>   bridge: mcast: Remove redundant function arguments
> 
>  net/bridge/br_mdb.c     | 312 +++++++++++++++++++---------------------
>  net/bridge/br_private.h |   7 +
>  2 files changed, 156 insertions(+), 163 deletions(-)
> 

As I also commented on the RFC, nice work! Allowing user-space to manipulate and manually
install such entries is a natural extension.

One thought (not a big deal) but it would've been ideal if we could initialize the config
struct once when parsing and then pass it around as a const argument. I know that its
arguments are currently passed to functions that don't expect const, but I *think* it
could be a small change.

Thanks,
 Nik