Subject: Re: [PATCH net-next] net: ethtool: allow MAC drivers to override ethtool get_ts_info

From: Russell King - ARM Linux admin <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 21 Jan 2021 18:18:47 +0000

On Thu, Jan 21, 2021 at 07:06:11AM -0800, Richard Cochran wrote:
> On Thu, Jan 21, 2021 at 10:27:38AM +0000, Russell King - ARM Linux admin wrote:
> > As I already explained to you, you can *NOT* use kernel configuration
> > to make the choice.  ARM is a multi-platform kernel, and we will not
> > stand for platform choices dictated by kernel configuration options.
> 
> This has nothing to do with ARM as a platform.  The same limitation
> applies to x86 and all the rest.

You don't plainly don't understand, because you just called ARM a
platform. ARM isn't a platform, it's an architecture, which is a
totally different thing.

A platform is a device, like a phone, or a router, or a computer.
However, all platforms may have the same CPU architecture - that
being ARM.

ARM as an architecture is in the situation where distributions have
pushed hard for it to be like x86. You build one kernel for your
distribution, not multiple hardware specific kernels. That means,
there is one kernel configuration. Platform specifics are handled
through firmware such as device tree.

Having platform specific kernel configuration options, such as "we
want to use PHY timestamping" vs "we want to use MAC timestamping"
do not work in this environment.

-- 
RMK's Patch system: https://www.armlinux.org.uk/developer/patches/
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