linux-kernel - Re: A set of "standard" virtual devices?

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Message-ID: <4612CAF4.908@zytor.com>
Date:	Tue, 03 Apr 2007 14:45:24 -0700
From:	"H. Peter Anvin" <hpa@...or.com>
To:	Jeremy Fitzhardinge <jeremy@...p.org>
CC:	Arnd Bergmann <arnd@...db.de>,
	Cornelia Huck <cornelia.huck@...ibm.com>,
	Andi Kleen <ak@...e.de>,
	Christian Borntraeger <borntrae@...ibm.com>,
	virtualization@...ts.linux-foundation.org,
	Virtualization Mailing List <virtualization@...ts.osdl.org>,
	Linux Kernel Mailing List <linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org>,
	mathiasen@...il.com
Subject: Re: A set of "standard" virtual devices?

Jeremy Fitzhardinge wrote:
> 
> So, what you're saying is:
> 
>    1. assuming there's going to be a vast number of miscellaneous devices
>    2. it would be best if there were one per device rather than one per
>       hypervisor per device
>    3. so we'd have one linux device driver
> 
> But this implies that the work is just pushed off into all the
> hypervisors to support this new device over the generic interface;
> there's no overall reduction of code or complexity, other than making
> "wc" on the kernel source smaller.
> 

Sure there is, assuming you deal about heterogenous clients.  I'm not 
sure Xen is (although that is, as far as I understand, being remedied), 
which might explain your different perspective.

Consider that this may not even be about Linux -- having these standard 
devices would enable, say, 'doze device drivers to be written and shared.

> That said, something like USB is probably the best bet for this kind of
> low-performance device.  I think.  Not that I really know anything about
> USB.

USB is evil in the extreme for this kind of stuff.  Although in theory 
you can have any HCI you want, in practice the ones that are implemented 
requires a very complex framework for full compatiblity.

	-hpa
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