Re: useless stuff in kernel, etc.

bdrake@msuvx1.memphis.edu
Thu, 21 Mar 1996 21:44:06 -0600 (CST)


> Any features deemed obsolete during 1.2/1.3 are moved to the "obsolete"
> area of the configure scripts for 1.4, but removed entirely for 1.5.
> Thus, the features, although obsolete, are still in the mainstream
> kernel, and the development kernels, which are the "cutting edge", don't
> need this old code. Starting with 1.6 (or whatever is after 1.4/1.5)
> they are removed entirely from the mainstream kernel as well.
>
> Any thoughts on this? If so, please send them just to me and not to the
> list, and I'll post a summary of opinions later. vger's overloaded
> already; please don't make it worse.
>
Two thoughts on this.
1. NE1000 card
outdated..... but
I know a guy who owns one
2. xiafs filesystem
outdated..... but
I know a guy who still uses it

Granted, this is rare stuff, but people are still using it, and they
expect linux to support the stuff they use. People don't wanna reformat
and reinstall just to change filesystem types cause someone thinks they
are outdated. And people want the newest kernels because they want the
newest features. This is just one more thing thats gonna make it harder
to upgrade in the long run. It's only a few hundred k on todays newest
gig drives. If you want to move it out of the kernel, then it's a
responsibility that someone makes sure it's still compilable as a module,
otherwise you may consider this my objection to deleting old parts from
the kernel.

Robert