netdev - Re: [PATCH 2/5] /dev/vring: simple userspace-kernel ringbuffer interface.

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Date:	Sun, 20 Apr 2008 02:41:14 +1000
From:	Rusty Russell <rusty@...tcorp.com.au>
To:	"Michael Kerrisk" <mtk.manpages@...il.com>
Cc:	"Andrew Morton" <akpm@...ux-foundation.org>,
	netdev@...r.kernel.org, "Max Krasnyansky" <maxk@...lcomm.com>,
	virtualization@...ts.linux-foundation.org,
	linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org
Subject: Re: [PATCH 2/5] /dev/vring: simple userspace-kernel ringbuffer interface.

On Saturday 19 April 2008 05:38:50 Michael Kerrisk wrote:
> On 4/18/08, Andrew Morton <akpm@...ux-foundation.org> wrote:
> > This is may be our third high-bandwidth user/kernel interface to
> > transport bulk data ("hbukittbd") which was implemented because its
> > predecessors weren't quite right.  In a year or two's time someone else
> > will need a hbukittbd and will find that the existing three aren't quite
> > right and will give us another one.  One day we need to stop doing this
> > ;)

If only there were some kind of, I don't know... summit... for kernel 
people... 

> >  It could be that this person will look at Rusty's hbukittbd and find
> > that it _could_ be tweaked to do what he wants, but it's already shipping
> > and it's part of the kernel API and hence can't be made to do what he
> > wants.

Indeed.  I marked it experimental because of these questions (ie. it's not yet 
kernel ABI).  Getting everyone's attention is hard tho, so I figured we put 
it in as a device and moving to a syscall if and when we feel it's ready.

> >  So I think it would be good to plonk the proposed interface on the table
> >  and have a poke at it.  Is it compat-safe?  Is it extensible in a
> >  backward-compatible fashion?  Are there future-safe changes we should
> > make to it?  Can Michael Kerrisk understand, review and document it? 
> > etc.
>
> Well, it helps if he's CCed....

It is compat safe, and we've already extended it once, so I'm reasonably happy 
so far.  If it were a syscall I'd add a flags arg, for the device it'd be an 
ioctl.  Starting with the virtio ABI seemed a reasonable first step, because 
*we* can use this today even if noone else does.

> I'm happy to work *with someone* on the documentation (pointless to do
> it on my own -- how do I know what Rusty's *intended* behavior for the
> interface is), and review, and testing.

Document coming up...
Rusty.
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