Messages in this thread | | | Date | Tue, 27 Nov 2007 19:59:53 +0100 | From | Adrian Bunk <> | Subject | Re: [PATCH RFC] [1/9] Core module symbol namespaces code and intro. |
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On Tue, Nov 27, 2007 at 11:45:37AM -0600, Tom Tucker wrote: > > On Tue, 2007-11-27 at 18:15 +0100, Adrian Bunk wrote: > > On Mon, Nov 26, 2007 at 11:35:42PM -0600, Tom Tucker wrote: > > > On Tue, 2007-11-27 at 15:49 +1100, Rusty Russell wrote: > > >... > > > > No. That's the wrong question. What's the real upside? > > > > > > Explicitly documenting what comprises the kernel API (external, > > > supported) and what comprises the kernel implementation (internal, not > > > supported). > > >... > > > > There is not, never was, and never will be, any supported external API > > of the kernel. > > Philosophically I understand what you're saying, but in practical terms > there is the issue of managing core API like kmalloc. Although kmalloc > _could_ change, doing so would be extremely painful. In fact anyone who > proposed such a change would have to have a profoundly powerful argument > as to why it was necessary.
The latter should at least in theory be required for all changes no matter how core they are...
> I think this patchset is an attempt to make it easier to identify and > review these kinds of interfaces.
As long as the submitter fixes all in-kernel users these interfaces are not handled differently from interfaces with fewer users.
And I remember at least one commit that changed > 1000 files because it changed a frequently used driver API. [1]
cu Adrian
[1] commit 7d12e780e003f93433d49ce78cfedf4b4c52adc5
--
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