linux-kernel - on (not) breaking user space

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Date:   Sun, 9 Jul 2023 14:32:03 +0200
From:   Oswald Buddenhagen <oswald.buddenhagen@....de>
To:     Linus Torvalds <torvalds@...ux-foundation.org>
Cc:     linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org, alsa-devel@...a-project.org,
        tiwai@...e.com, perex@...ex.cz
Subject: on (not) breaking user space

hi linus,

the alsa maintainers seem to be applying a reading of "we don't break 
user space" that i find counter-productive. so i would appreciate you 
clarifying your position on that matter (once more ...)

to be clear, we're not arguing over changing any abi, but simply 
exercising one somewhat more than before. the claim is that this would 
likely have unacceptable consequences. i disagree.

context:
> Due to hardware constraints, changing the clock multiplier (CM) 
> changes the available audio ports and the number of available 
> channels. [...] Therefore, we do dynamic reconfiguration (DR) of the 
> mixer in response to changing the CM.

arguments:
> DR is somewhat controversial, as it has the potential to crash poorly 
> programmed applications.
> But that in itself isn't a very convincing argument against it, as by 
> that logic we'd have to ban all hot-plugging. (1)
> Such crashes would also not really qualify as regressions, as the 
> D.A.S. mode is a new opt-in feature, and therefore no previously 
> stable setups would be impacted. (2)

the full text is at 
https://lore.kernel.org/all/20230630144542.664190-7-oswald.buddenhagen@gmx.de/

the preceding discussion is at 
https://lore.kernel.org/all/87v8fren1k.wl-tiwai@suse.de/T/#u

regards,
ossi