Messages in this thread | | | Date | Sun, 6 Jul 2008 13:17:51 -0700 (PDT) | From | david@lang ... | Subject | Re: [bug?] tg3: Failed to load firmware "tigon/tg3_tso.bin" |
| |
On Fri, 4 Jul 2008, Alan Cox wrote:
>> External firmware is by design an error prone system, even with >> versioning. But by being built and linked into the driver, it >> is fool proof. >> >> On a technical basis alone, we would never disconnect a crucial >> component such as firmware, from the driver. The only thing >> charging these transoformations, from day one, is legal concerns. > > As I said: We had this argument ten years ago (more than that now > actually). People said the same thing about modules. >
and they were right then as well. Fortunantly,at that time the kernel developers listened and retained the possibility to not use modules.
if David W were to make it possible to not use the load_firmware() call to userspace and build the firmware into the driver (be it in a monolithic kernel or the module that contains the driver) this would not be a problem. the default could be to build in the firmware (avoiding breakage) and those people and distros that see a reason to seperate the firmware would be able to by changing that setting.
we have also had the same argument about initrd/initramfs where people have wanted to make them mandatory by moving things (like partition detection) out of the kernel. so far this hasn't happened, and I hope it doesn't.
David Lang
| |