Subject: Re: [PATCH 10/17] bootwrapper: Add dt_set_mac_addresses().

From: Segher Boessenkool <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 21 Mar 2007 14:38:16 +0100

> Well, first, details shmetails.  It's the interface and approach I
> thin is better.  Second, I don't think the zImage should be setting
> mac-address anyway.  In OF that property is based on what the
> interface has been used for during booting, which the zImage doesn't
> know.  The kernel doesn't need mac-address if local-mac-address is
> present, so we should just leave it out.

Exactly.  "mac-address" is mostly historical anyway, from the
time that people used RARP and such.  Nowadays, almost any network
interface on any board has a statically assigned MAC address and
so should use "local-mac-address".

It would be a good idea to remove any mention of "mac-address"
from the kernel :-)

>> Also, in the future, we hope to eliminate *all* MAC
>> address entries from the DTS files, and the boot loader and/or
>> bootwrapper will add one.

There *are* use cases for setting it statically in the DTS
(bring up activities, ...) -- so please don't make it
impossible to do so.

But yes, no "shipping" DTS should have it, preferably.

Segher