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    SubjectRe: [PATCH 0/3 - V2] Introducing Device Tree Overlays
    Hi!

    On 06/11/13 20:08, ext Pantelis Antoniou wrote:
    >>> The following patchset introduces Device Tree overlays, a method
    >>> of dynamically altering the kernel's live Device Tree, along with
    >>> a generic interface to use it in a board agnostic manner.
    >>
    >> In case this has been discussed and I missed it: Why are we doing this?
    >> Isn't it possible to d o the overlay thingy in u-boot and pass a
    >> complete device tree to the kernel?
    >> Are you trying to do something like hotplug-PCI where the PCI card can
    >> be replaced at runtime?
    >>
    >
    > It has been discussed.
    >
    > We are doing it because
    >
    > a) We tried to do it in u-boot and it has been a complete disaster.
    > Regular users just can't handle bootloader updates.

    There are buses we simply do not want to deal with in uboot, like SRIO, PCIe, everything-over-ethernet.
    All of them are hot-pluggable. And yeah, device-tree processing in uboot is possible, but in Linux
    it's way easier...

    > b) It is similar to that. It was originally created for the beaglebone,
    > which has a concept of capes (similar to Arduino shields).
    > http://circuitco.com/support/index.php?title=BeagleBone_Capes
    > Turns out it's really useful to anyone doing reconfigurable hardware too,
    > so that's why FPGA people are thinking of using it.
    >
    > c) There are people that want to tinker with Linux based hardware boards
    > but are not kernel developers. This gives them a way to do so without
    > having to recompile the kernel and/or reboot while tinkering.
    >
    >> Sebastian
    >
    > Regards
    >
    > -- Pantelis
    >
    >
    >

    --
    Best regards,
    Alexander Sverdlin.


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