Linux-kernel mailing list archive 1999-22,: RE: 2.3 wish: integrate pcmcia into mainstream kernel

# RE: 2.3 wish: integrate pcmcia into mainstream kernel

Greg Smart (GSmart@tennyson.com.au)
Thu, 3 Jun 1999 16:39:11 +1000

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It seems to me that the main issue here is testing across
a decent number of machines. If that's the case then why
not put the PCMCIA package in the development kernels,
with the view of later removing them when the package is
stable enough to no longer be causing problems.

Greg

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Linus Torvalds [SMTP:torvalds@transmeta.com]
> Sent: Thursday, June 03, 1999 11:31 AM
> To: Michael H. Warfield
> Cc: David Hinds; linux-kernel@vger.rutgers.edu
> Subject: Re: 2.3 wish: integrate pcmcia into mainstream kernel
>
>
>
> On Wed, 2 Jun 1999, Michael H. Warfield wrote:
> >
> > > WHAT install disk?
> >
> > The install disk that is the floppy image that makes the CD-Rom
> > bootable?
> >
> > El Torrito spec... You have a bootable disk image. It's
> > generally a floppy image although I understand it CAN be a larger
> > hard drive image (haven't seen one in practice).
>
> Right. It _can_.
>
> It's not a question of "possible" vs "impossible". It's a question of
> "practical" vs "impractical" and a question of verification.
>
> The verification part comes in through the fact that the way things are
> set up right now, nobody _ever_ uses the PCMCIA package the same way
> during installation as they use it in everyday use. Basically, right now
> the everyday use gets tested every day, and the installation use gets
> tested once in a blue moon, if even that.
>
> Anybody surprised that there are problems at install time? Not me.
>
> In contrast, the regular built-in device drivers almost never have any
> trouble at installation time, because they have been extremely heavily
> tested every single bootup to make sure that they always find the device
> reliably. They are known to not need any special parameters in 99% of all
> cases.
>
> If you look at the PCMCIA stuff, because of how it is set up, special
> parameters are _accepted_ and considered to be perfectly fine. And that
> means that they tend to flourish, rather than be frowned upon. All of
> which means that installation is painful - once it is all installed it
> works beautifully.
>
> Linus
>
>
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