Subject: Re: [PATCH 1/2] [IDE] Platform IDE driver (was: MMIO IDE driver)

From: Sergei Shtylyov <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 26 Jul 2007 23:52:38 +0400

Hello.

Guennadi Liakhovetski wrote:

>>>driver to using platform-device. I got a reply, that it's not worth it now 
>>>that IDE is slowly becoming obsolete, and the pata_platform serves the 
>>>perpose perfectly well. I found this argument reasonable, I had the same 
>>>doubt, just wanted to double-check. So, why do we now need a new legacy 
>>>(a/drivers/ide/legacy/ide_platform.c) driver when a "modern" driver 
>>>exists?

>>We don't *need* it but some people still want to use old IDE and the
>>author was willing to make it neatly compatible so that anything that
>>works with the pata_platform should be able to use the ide_platform
>>driver and vice versa. For the shorter term that can only be a good thing
>>- arch code doesn't need to care about which driver is used, end users
>>can pick and it doesn't end up adding new ties between code and old IDE.

> Ok, thanks for the explanation Alan. So, there's no technical argument, 
> just "being nice to the users", and add a new driver, which we know we'll 
> have to remove soon, thus having to persuade its users, who by that time 

    Define "soon". :-)

> will get used to it and will not want to invest money into switching to 
> another one...

    Invest into what if the drivers are functionally identical?

> Thanks
> Guennadi

MBR, Sergei