On Sat, 14 Dec 2002, Russell King wrote:
> On Sat, Dec 14, 2002 at 08:05:30PM +0530, arun4linux wrote:
> > Interfaces should NEVER change in patch level versions.
> > Just *DO NOT DO IT*.
> > I do agree on this.
>
> Rubbish.
>
> Think about what you've just said. Patch level version changes are
> things like 2.5.43 to 2.5.44 or 2.4.19 to 2.4.20.
>
> You are saying that we shouldn't change any interfaces between (eg)
> 2.5.43 and 2.5.44, but we should change every interface we want to
> change between 2.4.15 and 2.5.0.
>
> This is obviously completely bogus. 2.5 is a _development_ tree.
> Everyone should expect anything, including interfaces to change
> between each development patch level.
>
> > This is a common complaint about linux kernel developers. And this always
> > gives an insecure feeling :-) for the device driver or kernel module
> > programmers.
>
> If interfaces are changed without extremely good reason between two
> _stable_ patch level versions, that would be a bug.
>
There have been a few during 2.4... The alloc_kiovec stuff for instance
and zap_page_range. 2.2 was much more stable.
Interface changes in development series is (or atleast should be to
everyone using linux) a known "feature".
Regards,
--
Steffen Persvold | Scali AS
mailto:sp@xxxxxxxxx | http://www.scali.com
Tel: (+47) 2262 8950 | Olaf Helsets vei 6
Fax: (+47) 2262 8951 | N0621 Oslo, NORWAY
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