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

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Date:	Tue, 28 Aug 2007 22:51:29 +0400
From:	Alexey Dobriyan <adobriyan@...il.com>
To:	"Robert P. J. Day" <rpjday@...dspring.com>
Cc:	"H. Peter Anvin" <hpa@...or.com>, linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org
Subject: Re: ok to kill "ether=" kernel parm?

On Tue, Aug 28, 2007 at 01:58:05PM -0400, Robert P. J. Day wrote:
> On Tue, 28 Aug 2007, H. Peter Anvin wrote:
> 
> > 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.
> 
> i've never found these "well, it's not hurting anything" arguments
> terribly compelling.

And? AFAICS, handler doesn't even print boot time warning message that
ether= is obsoleted.
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