Subject: Re: [PATCH v3 net-next 2/6] rtnetlink: Add new RTM_GETEECSTATE message to get SyncE status

From: Florian Westphal <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 16 Nov 2021 16:41:11 +0100

Machnikowski, Maciej <[email-masked]> wrote:
> > More importantly, why is this added to rtnetlink (routing sockets)?
> > It appears to be unrelated?
> > 
> > Looks like this should be in ethtool (it has netlink api nowadays) or
> > devlink.
> 
> We identified it as a generic place in previous RFCs.

Doesn't answer my question.  EECSTATE doesn't appear to be related to
anything else thats currently exposed via rtnetlink from a conceptional
point of view.

> Ethtool calls are not
> available in non-ethernet packet networks

Thats news to me.  ethtool ops are linked via netdevice struct.

> and the concept of that functionality
> is - any packet network can implement it - SONET, GPON or even wireless.

Ethtool ops expose a wide range of low-level functions not related to
ethernet, e.g. eeprom dump, interrupt coalescing settings of and so on
and so forth.

But hey, if net maintainers are ok with rtnetlink...

I just feel putting synce interaction in rtnetlink is arbitrary
and bad precendence.