Robert P. J. Day wrote: > On Tue, 28 Aug 2007, H. Peter Anvin wrote: > >> Robert P. J. Day wrote: >>> given that "ether=" has been officially obsolete since 2.6.18 >>> (replaced by "netdev="), is there any reason to keep it around? >>> or can it be blasted? >> That sounds like way too short of a timeline for breaking people's >> working boot setup. For a lot of people, 2.6.18->current is going >> to be a single step. > > actually, now that i look more closely at the code browser at > lxr.linux.no, "ether=" has been listed as "obsolete" since *at least* > 2.6.10. not to sound unsympathetic but anyone who tries to jump from > 2.6.10 to 2.6.24 in one step deserves what they get. :-) > > ok, that was cruel, but you see my point, right?
Yes, and I think it's quite pointless. The thing is, people's boot setups have probably been that way since *long* before 2.6.9. They continue to work, as they should, so they aren't changed. This is why we very rarely break boot interfaces (and this is a user-visible interface you're talking about); we're still supporting interfaces that have been obsolete *SINCE BEFORE 1.0 WAS RELEASED.* What's the upside of changing? What's the downside? The upside is so infinitesimal that that leaving "ether=" in indefinitely seems like a good move to me. -hpa - To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-kernel" in the body of a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html Please read the FAQ at http://www.tux.org/lkml/