linux-kernel - Re: [PATCH v5 0/4] ARM: ep93xx: ts72xx: Add support for BK3 board

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Date:   Wed, 20 Dec 2017 13:33:00 +0100
From:   Linus Walleij <linus.walleij@...aro.org>
To:     Lukasz Majewski <lukma@...x.de>
Cc:     Alexander Sverdlin <alexander.sverdlin@...il.com>,
        Arnd Bergmann <arnd@...db.de>,
        Arnd Bergmann <arndbergmann@...il.com>,
        Hartley Sweeten <hsweeten@...ionengravers.com>,
        Russell King <linux@...linux.org.uk>,
        Linux ARM <linux-arm-kernel@...ts.infradead.org>,
        "linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org" <linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org>,
        Olof Johansson <olof@...om.net>
Subject: Re: [PATCH v5 0/4] ARM: ep93xx: ts72xx: Add support for BK3 board

On Wed, Dec 13, 2017 at 9:52 AM, Lukasz Majewski <lukma@...x.de> wrote:
>> On Wed Dec 13 08:34:22 2017 Linus Walleij <linus.walleij@...aro.org>
>> wrote:
>> > On Tue, Dec 12, 2017 at 12:36 AM, Lukasz Majewski <lukma@...x.de>
>> > wrote: Out of curiosity: Liebherr is obviously doing heavy-duty
>> > industrial control systems. Likewise Hartley is doing similar
>> > business over at Vision Engravings.
>> >
>> > Is the situation such that there is a whole bunch of industrial
>> > systems out there, in active use and needing future upgrades,
>> > that use the EP93xx?
>>
>> That's definitely the case. I'm as well aware of several thousands of
>> industrial devices which are expected to run 24/7 for the next 5
>> years at least. And they are updated from time to time.
>
> I can agree with this statement.

OK I'm coloring this platform with a highlight for ARM32 maintenance.

>> > Arnd has been nudging me to do DT conversion for EP93xx
>> > so if there are many active industrial users of these
>> > I should prioritize it, because these things have 20+ years
>> > support cycles.
>>
>> I'm not sure how important or necessary at all is to change anything
>> in these legacy platforms.
>
> +1

That is an understandable conservative stance.

There is a fine line between "it works, don't touch it" and
"modernize the ARM32 ecosystem".

There is a point where supporting old board files will stand in
the way and cost a lot in maintenance (like moving drivers our
of arch/arm, or modernizing misc subsystems). Then moving the
platform over to device tree should be preferred.

> I'm using OE to build toolchain (SDK). I can confirm that gcc 7.2 works
> with it.
>
> And yes, armv4 support shall be preserved in GCC ....

Yes that is the same toochain I use.

Yours,
Linus Walleij