linux-kernel - Re: [PATCH 0/5] add bus driver for Unisys s-Par paravirtualized devices to arch/x86

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Date:	Tue, 17 May 2016 10:01:55 -0400
From:	Jes Sorensen <Jes.Sorensen@...hat.com>
To:	Greg KH <gregkh@...uxfoundation.org>
Cc:	David Kershner <david.kershner@...sys.com>, corbet@....net,
	tglx@...utronix.de, mingo@...hat.com, hpa@...or.com,
	erik.arfvidson@...sys.com, timothy.sell@...sys.com,
	hofrat@...dl.org, dzickus@...hat.com, alexander.curtin@...sys.com,
	janani.rvchndrn@...il.com, sudipm.mukherjee@...il.com,
	prarit@...hat.com, david.binder@...sys.com, nhorman@...hat.com,
	dan.j.williams@...el.com, linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org,
	linux-doc@...r.kernel.org, driverdev-devel@...uxdriverproject.org,
	sparmaintainer@...sys.com
Subject: Re: [PATCH 0/5] add bus driver for Unisys s-Par paravirtualized devices to arch/x86

Greg KH <gregkh@...uxfoundation.org> writes:
> On Tue, May 17, 2016 at 03:27:56AM -0400, David Kershner wrote:
>> This patchset moves the visorbus driver (fromdrivers/staging/unisys/visorbus)
>> and its dependent headers files (from drivers/staging/unisys/include)
>> out of staging into the main kernel tree.
>> 
>> The visorbus driver is a bus driver for various paravirtualized devices
>> presented within a Unisys s-Par guest environment.  Drivers for these
>> devices are also currently present under drivers/staging/unisys/, which we
>> intend to also move out of staging immediately after visorbus.  All of
>> these other drivers are dependent upon visorbus and the include directory,
>> which is why we would like to move these first.
>> 
>> Our initial consultations with various members of the community have led us
>> to the conclusion that the most appropriate locations for these is:
>>     arch/x86/visorbus/       (driver)
>>     include/linux/visorbus/  (header files)
>> 
>> The rationale is that visorbus is dependent on x86-64 architecture.
>
> What makes it dependent on x86?  What prevents it from running on some
> other architecture (not the fact that no one has made such hardware,
> just the code reasons please.)

It's dependent on system firmware which is only available on the S-Par
platform which is x86_64 only. The closest similarity is probably what
you find on the PPC and Sparc platforms.

Jes