linux-kernel - Re: [GIT PULL] Firmware files removal for 4.14-rc1

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Message-ID: <20170916045106.GA286@x4>
Date:   Sat, 16 Sep 2017 06:51:06 +0200
From:   Markus Trippelsdorf <markus@...ppelsdorf.de>
To:     Greg KH <gregkh@...uxfoundation.org>
Cc:     Linus Torvalds <torvalds@...ux-foundation.org>,
        Andrew Morton <akpm@...ux-foundation.org>,
        linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org
Subject: Re: [GIT PULL] Firmware files removal for 4.14-rc1

On 2017.09.15 at 11:56 -0700, Greg KH wrote:
> The following changes since commit 569dbb88e80deb68974ef6fdd6a13edb9d686261:
>
>   Linux 4.13 (2017-09-03 13:56:17 -0700)
>
> are available in the git repository at:
>
>   git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/gregkh/driver-core.git/ tags/firmware_removal-4.14-rc1
>
> for you to fetch changes up to 5620a0d1aacd554ebebcff373e31107bb1ef7769:
>
>   firmware: delete in-kernel firmware (2017-09-14 14:49:41 -0700)
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------
> Firmware removal patch for 4.14-rc1
>
> Many many years ago (at the kernel summit in Boston), we all came to the
> agreement that the firmware/ tree should be dropped from the kernel, and
> everyone use the linux-firmware package instead.  For some minor reason,
> David Woodhouse didn't send the pull request at that point in time, and
> everyone forgot about this.
>
> The topic came up in the hallway track at the Plumbers conference this
> week, so here's a single patch that drops the whole firmware tree.  The
> last firmware update was back in 2013, and all distros have been using
> linux-firmware instead since at least that year, if not before.  The
> only commits to that directory since 2013 was some kbuild fixups for
> various build tool issues.
>
> So lets finally drop this, we don't need to lug them around in the
> kernel source tree anymore, especially as no one wants or uses them.

Well, it is one thing to drop the redundant binary blobs. But is another
to break perfectly fine setups that worked for years, e.g.:

CONFIG_FW_LOADER=y
CONFIG_FIRMWARE_IN_KERNEL=y
CONFIG_EXTRA_FIRMWARE="amd-ucode/microcode_amd.bin radeon/R600_rlc.bin"
CONFIG_EXTRA_FIRMWARE_DIR="/lib/firmware"

Please restore the support for built-in firmware.
Thanks.

-- 
Markus