linux-kernel - Re: [PATCH v2 01/31] ntsync: Introduce the ntsync driver and character device.

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Date: Thu, 22 Feb 2024 14:13:40 -0600
From: Elizabeth Figura <zfigura@...eweavers.com>
To: Geert Uytterhoeven <geert@...ux-m68k.org>
Cc: Arnd Bergmann <arnd@...db.de>,
 Greg Kroah-Hartman <gregkh@...uxfoundation.org>,
 Jonathan Corbet <corbet@....net>, Shuah Khan <shuah@...nel.org>,
 linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org, linux-api@...r.kernel.org,
 wine-devel@...ehq.org,
 André Almeida <andrealmeid@...lia.com>,
 Wolfram Sang <wsa@...nel.org>, Arkadiusz Hiler <ahiler@...eweavers.com>,
 Peter Zijlstra <peterz@...radead.org>, Andy Lutomirski <luto@...nel.org>,
 linux-doc@...r.kernel.org, linux-kselftest@...r.kernel.org,
 Randy Dunlap <rdunlap@...radead.org>
Subject:
 Re: [PATCH v2 01/31] ntsync: Introduce the ntsync driver and character
 device.

On Thursday, 22 February 2024 04:56:21 CST Geert Uytterhoeven wrote:
> > --- a/drivers/misc/Kconfig
> > +++ b/drivers/misc/Kconfig
> > @@ -506,6 +506,17 @@ config OPEN_DICE
> >
> >           If unsure, say N.
> >
> > +config NTSYNC
> > +       tristate "NT synchronization primitive emulation"
> > +       help
> > +         This module provides kernel support for emulation of Windows NT
> > +         synchronization primitives. It is not a hardware driver.
> > +
> > +         To compile this driver as a module, choose M here: the
> > +         module will be called ntsync.
> > +
> > +         If unsure, say N.
> 
> Is it useful to have this feature on systems or architectures that
> are not supported by Windows NT?
> 
> If not, this should depend on <something> || COMPILE_TEST.

Hmm, that's an interesting question. Currently only Wine supports x86 and ARM, 
as the only architectures supported by modern Windows. On the other hand, that 
hasn't always been the case, and there's been some desire to use Wine (as a 
porting tool) on architectures that Windows doesn't support, and out-of-tree 
ports to e.g. PowerPC to that end.

Perhaps more saliently, there's no reason I'm aware of that this code *can't* 
run on any architecture, and Wine (or another NT emulator) may grow support 
for more architectures in the future. I (with my limited experience) don't see 
a reason to artificially limit ourselves, especially if the driver is disabled 
by default.

--Zeb