linux-kernel - Re: [PATCH] libata-sff: Don't call bmdma

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Message-ID: <45BA1E5E.6050405@rtr.ca>
Date:	Fri, 26 Jan 2007 10:29:34 -0500
From:	Mark Lord <lkml@....ca>
To:	Linus Torvalds <torvalds@...ux-foundation.org>
Cc:	David Woodhouse <dwmw2@...radead.org>,
	Alan <alan@...rguk.ukuu.org.uk>, Jeff Garzik <jgarzik@...ox.com>,
	Linux Kernel Mailing List <linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org>
Subject: Re: [PATCH] libata-sff: Don't call bmdma_stop on non DMA capable
 controllers

> (Yeah, mmap() has taught some people about MAP_FAIL, but that's pretty 
> unusual too.

It's so unusual, that I regularly find buggy code checking for NULL
instead of MAP_FAILED.  Just about every program I look at has it wrong
in at least one place.

Ditto for the result value from wait() -- lots of code fails to use
the fancy macros required for correct interpretation of it.

> The quality of our drivers is low;

I think that's a bit harsh.  But yes, compared to core parts
of the kernel perhaps (eg. page dirty mappings: remember the recent bugfix?).

The real deal is that using zero/NULL makes it *easier* to get the code right.
And we certainly have tons more people working on drivers than anything else,
so making it *easier* for those coders to reduce the bug count is a Good Thing(tm).

Cheers
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