netdev - Re: [PATCH 1/3] WAN Kconfig: change "depends on HDLC" to "select"

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Date:	Tue, 8 May 2007 02:19:53 +0530
From:	"Satyam Sharma" <satyam.sharma@...il.com>
To:	"Jeff Garzik" <jeff@...zik.org>
Cc:	"Roman Zippel" <zippel@...ux-m68k.org>,
	"Krzysztof Halasa" <khc@...waw.pl>,
	"Russell King" <rmk@....linux.org.uk>,
	lkml <linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org>, netdev@...r.kernel.org,
	linux-arm-kernel@...ts.arm.linux.org.uk
Subject: Re: [PATCH 1/3] WAN Kconfig: change "depends on HDLC" to "select"

On 5/8/07, Jeff Garzik <jeff@...zik.org> wrote:
> Satyam Sharma wrote:
> > Yes, mixing select and depends is a recipe for build disasters. Call
> > me a rabid fanatic, but I would in fact go as far as to say that this
> > whole "select" thing in the Kconfig process is one big BUG, and not a
> > feature. People are lazy by nature and would rather just "select" a
> > dependency for their config option than burden users with several
> > "depends".
>
> Tough, the kernel community has voted against you.

Heh ... I guess I appeared a trifle _too_ fanatic there, but I'm not.
That rant against it was actually more about controlling its
{ab-,mis-}use and rampant proliferation (even to cases where it is
inapplicable / avoidable) than removing it altogether. Especially,
when a developer is lazy / wrong and mixes select and depends in the
same dependency chain leading to errors.

> It makes far more sense to include a driver during kernel configuration,
> and have that driver pull in its libraries via 'select'.  The lame
> alternative requires developers to know which libraries they need BEFORE
> picking their drivers, which is backwards and requires legwork on the
> part of the kernel developer.

(That bit about a developer _knowing_ which libraries to select
manually before selecting a driver is not really true, you can "?" on
a config item and get all its "depends" and "select" dependencies
anyway -- and it requires more leg work, yes, but then you'll never
have build failures either)

Still, I don't really disagree w.r.t. "select"ing libraries, as long
as we're careful to limit them to _only_ libraries.
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