From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Return-Path: Received: from psmtp.com (na3sys010amx157.postini.com [74.125.245.157]) by kanga.kvack.org (Postfix) with SMTP id 655566B004F for ; Sun, 4 Dec 2011 14:50:59 -0500 (EST) Subject: Re: [Linux-decnet-user] Proposed removal of DECnet support (was:Re: [BUG] 3.2-rc2:BUG kmalloc-8: Redzone overwritten) From: Philipp Schafft In-Reply-To: <1322664737.2755.17.camel@menhir> References: <1322664737.2755.17.camel@menhir> Content-Type: multipart/signed; micalg=pgp-sha1; protocol="application/pgp-signature"; boundary="=-GFnK3uTMHa0v/8p0EJDa" Date: Sun, 04 Dec 2011 20:50:52 +0100 Mime-Version: 1.0 Message-Id: <20111204195055.A36077AD9C@priderock.keep-cool.org> Sender: owner-linux-mm@kvack.org List-ID: To: Steven Whitehouse Cc: mike.gair@tatasteel.com, Chrissie Caulfield , Christoph Lameter , David Miller , Eric Dumazet , Sasha Levin , Linux-DECnet user , linux-kernel , linux-mm , Matt Mackall , netdev , Pekka Enberg , RoarAudio --=-GFnK3uTMHa0v/8p0EJDa Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable reflum, On Wed, 2011-11-30 at 14:52 +0000, Steven Whitehouse wrote: > On Wed, 2011-11-30 at 13:52 +0000, mike.gair@tatasteel.com wrote: > > In theory i'd be interested in maintaining it, > > but i'm not sure what amount of work is involved, > > have no experience of kernel, or where to start. > >=20 > > Any ideas? > >=20 > >=20 > So the issue is basically that due to there being nobody currently > maintaining the DECnet stack, it puts a burden on the core network > maintainers when they make cross-protocol changes, as they have to > figure out what impact the changes are likely to have on the DECnet > stack. So its an extra barrier to making cross-protocol code changes. >=20 > If there was an active maintainer who could be a source of knowledge > (and the odd patch to help out making those changes) then this issue > would largely go away. *nods* > The most important duty of the maintainer is just to watch whats going > on in the core networking development and to contribute the DECnet part > of that. So it would be most likely be more a reviewing of patches and > providing advice role, than one of writing patches (though it could be > that too) and ensuring that the code continues to function correctly by > testing it from time to time. >=20 > The ideal maintainer would have an in-depth knowledge of the core Linux > networking stack (socket layer, dst and neigh code), the DECnet specs > and have a good knowledge of C.=20 I guess I would fit mostly but I have no idea of the kernel internal stuff. Also I'm a bit short on time. > Bearing in mind the low patch volume (almost zero, except for core > stuff), it would probably be one of the subsystems with the least amount > of work to do in maintaining it. So in some ways, a good intro for a new > maintainer. Jup. This is very true. I hope we will find a new maintainer because of exactly this point. Maybe somebody like Mike Gair. > I do try and keep an eye on what get submitted to the DECnet code and > I'll continue to do that while it is still in the kernel. However, it is > now quite a long time since I last did any substantial work in the > networking area and things have moved on a fair bit in the mean time. I > don't have a lot of time to review DECnet patches these days and no way > to actually test any contributions against a real DECnet implementation. I'm glad you are still interested. I'm always happy when I see mails from you at the DECnet for Linux list. > So I'll provide what help I can to anybody who wants to take the role > on, within those limitations. I'm also happy to answer questions about > why things were done in a particular way, for example. >=20 > It is good to know that people are still using the Linux DECnet code > too. It has lived far beyond the time when I'd envisioned it still being > useful :-) There are still some people interested in it. Btw. on Debian popcon counts 5356 users. --=20 Philipp. (Rah of PH2) --=-GFnK3uTMHa0v/8p0EJDa Content-Type: application/pgp-signature; name=signature.asc Content-Description: This is a digitally signed message part -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Comment: Because it's your freedom iQEVAwUATtvPG2CSpmW8W5B8AQKLoAf/VswhaTbBgm0aKx4GIrnAJA+M5q5miQzu HLZZ4ipepSIJbKLU3bdqvjtibQrnTYyXjov2oCLzKaizKvAKKd8blJR0CEu+dShv xjBQiqFWfDSAARR7a3ypsyOLQ9WqG2IZdUB0FhJ0CHyjiZuHF3aJV+8/x+IZvJi7 VicP5trlrMupFQz3q74rnLmvsgCPDUmD+6mbZsYcJoAXa7V2xKMbv5245VuCaGVt bO38Zs29XWfg51s5ULeB8CZkTlNi8h9ORxDNEF9F49KuSJygtC9jqAY353cfqZF6 fHrhL12/nFc5+aMAACFvuujDjX0luXyzQsAGDDogenWeNU03spVq3A== =GcNW -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- --=-GFnK3uTMHa0v/8p0EJDa-- -- To unsubscribe, send a message with 'unsubscribe linux-mm' in the body to majordomo@kvack.org. For more info on Linux MM, see: http://www.linux-mm.org/ . Fight unfair telecom internet charges in Canada: sign http://stopthemeter.ca/ Don't email: email@kvack.org