linux-kernel - Re: [PATCH 11/12] platform/x86: dell-wmi-smbios: introduce character device for userspace

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Date:   Mon, 25 Sep 2017 19:58:03 +0300
From:   Andy Shevchenko <andy.shevchenko@...il.com>
To:     Pali Rohár <pali.rohar@...il.com>
Cc:     Mario Limonciello <mario.limonciello@...l.com>,
        "dvhart@...radead.org" <dvhart@...radead.org>,
        LKML <linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org>,
        Platform Driver <platform-driver-x86@...r.kernel.org>,
        quasisec@...gle.com
Subject: Re: [PATCH 11/12] platform/x86: dell-wmi-smbios: introduce character
 device for userspace

On Mon, Sep 25, 2017 at 7:31 PM, Pali Rohár <pali.rohar@...il.com> wrote:
> On Thursday 21 September 2017 08:57:16 Mario Limonciello wrote:
>> This userspace character device will be used to perform SMBIOS calls
>> from any applications sending a properly formatted 4k calling interface
>> buffer.
>>
>> This character device is intended to deprecate the dcdbas kernel module
>> and the interface that it provides to userspace.
>>
>> It's important for the driver to provide a R/W ioctl to ensure that
>> two competing userspace processes don't race to provide or read each
>> others data.

>> +What:                /dev/wmi-dell-wmi-smbios
>
> What about just /dev/dell-smbios? IOCTL provided here is just SMBIOS
> related and I think userspace does not have to care if it is via WMI or
> direct SMM mode... Important is that it provides character device for
> SMBIOS API and not how it is implemented.
>
> Anyway, Darren, Andy, do we have some convention for naming platform
> character devices?

For me, looking to this case, seems better to expose a folder like
/dev/smbios/
with actual vendor device nodes inside like
/dev/smbios/dell

Darren?

P.S. Interestingly I wasn't in Cc list for this series at all.

-- 
With Best Regards,
Andy Shevchenko