linux-kernel - Re: ok to kill "ether=" kernel parm?

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Message-ID: <46D45A02.6010306@zytor.com>
Date:	Tue, 28 Aug 2007 10:23:14 -0700
From:	"H. Peter Anvin" <hpa@...or.com>
To:	"Robert P. J. Day" <rpjday@...dspring.com>
CC:	Linux Kernel Mailing List <linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org>
Subject: Re: ok to kill "ether=" kernel parm?

Robert P. J. Day wrote:
> On Tue, 28 Aug 2007, H. Peter Anvin wrote:
> 
>> Robert P. J. Day wrote:
>>>   given that "ether=" has been officially obsolete since 2.6.18
>>> (replaced by "netdev="), is there any reason to keep it around?
>>> or can it be blasted?
>> That sounds like way too short of a timeline for breaking people's
>> working boot setup.  For a lot of people, 2.6.18->current is going
>> to be a single step.
> 
> actually, now that i look more closely at the code browser at
> lxr.linux.no, "ether=" has been listed as "obsolete" since *at least*
> 2.6.10.  not to sound unsympathetic but anyone who tries to jump from
> 2.6.10 to 2.6.24 in one step deserves what they get.  :-)
> 
> ok, that was cruel, but you see my point, right?

Yes, and I think it's quite pointless.

The thing is, people's boot setups have probably been that way since
*long* before 2.6.9.  They continue to work, as they should, so they
aren't changed.  This is why we very rarely break boot interfaces (and
this is a user-visible interface you're talking about); we're still
supporting interfaces that have been obsolete *SINCE BEFORE 1.0 WAS
RELEASED.*

What's the upside of changing?  What's the downside?  The upside is so
infinitesimal that that leaving "ether=" in indefinitely seems like a
good move to me.

	-hpa

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