Linux-kernel mailing list archive 1999-36,: Re: config-menus

# Re: config-menus

David Weinehall (tao@acc.umu.se)
Wed, 8 Sep 1999 03:03:04 +0200 (MET_DST)

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On Wed, 8 Sep 1999, Guest section DW wrote:

> From: David Weinehall <tao@acc.umu.se>
>
> On Wed, 8 Sep 1999, Alan Cox wrote:
>
> > > o A "Prompt for drivers/code flagged DANGEROUS" option in the
> > > code-maturity section that is conditional depending on EXPERIMENTAL
> >
> > What is the difference between experimental/dangerous, except the latter
> > scares people.
>
> That was kind of the idea... There is a reason for flagging code
> DANGEROUS. Only people who really doesn't care if their dogs die, their
> grandmas get abducted by aliens, their disks crashed and their screens
> burned out enables such code, while many wannabe hackers enables
> EXPERIMENTAL code.
>
> You are entirely mistaken.
> If I enable EXPERIMENTAL, it is not because I want to be a hacker,
> it is because my machine has a RealTek 8139 ethernet card.
> (Yes, it works fine, thank you.)

:^) I use experimental options too, but for instance experimental
filesystems isn't something I'd use on machine where work other than
development is performed, and experimental net-support might be cool, but
not on web-servers, etc...

CONFIG_EXPERIMENTAL makes all the DANGEROUS options available as
it stands now. My change removes that.

This gives an opportunity to make it clearer what things are experimental
in a "safe" way (ok, you might hang your computer and lose a file or two,
but you'll have most of your disk intact), and what's really mean.

In my opinion, there are quite a lot of drivers that could lose that
EXPERIMENTAL-flag without too much trouble; many drivers that are flagged
such are more stable than some of those not flagged as such....

> It's all a question of psychology. While EXPERIMENTAL sounds cool
and > inviting, DANGEROUS doesn't quite have that ring to itself...
>
> No. That is why we shouldnt use DANGEROUS.

As an option, or why we shouldn't use such drivers?

/David
_ _
// David Weinehall <tao@acc.umu.se> /> Northern lights wander \\
// Project MCA Linux hacker // Dance across the winter sky //
\> http://www.acc.umu.se/~tao/ </ Full colour fire </

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