> > BTW, the new driver at ftp://ftp.tux.org/pub/roudier/896/ does not support
> > old 810, 815 and 825 controllers anymore. This was necessary to actually
> > make thinks optimal and fine for recent chips (810A,860,825A,875,895,896)
> > that this driver supports obviously (not only the 896).
> >
> > I donnot only claim that old SCSI controllers have to go to the abattoir,
> > but I really did so in the new 53c8xx driver I am currently developing for
> > Linux.
>
> Nor IMHO does it create a major problem. The existing driver covers everything
> the existing chips do quite comprehensively. You give the enhanced driver
> a different name and the old chips become unsupported. Since we have the GPL
> anyone who cares to take up the baton can do so
For the moment, the new driver has same source file names and gobal entry
points for the reason it is very easy to people installing it under any
kernel version without having to apply any patch. Just move the files and
make the kernel is enough.
In the final release, the source files and global variables names will be
changed, both drivers will be available under Linux and it will be
possible to configure them simultaneously. The NVRAM reading will have to
be unique in order to apply the boot order from the user setup.
The fact that 2 different softwares are available under the same source
file names (for the moment) does not imply they are the same software.
Obviously, the new driver didn't start from scratch, but most of the
SCRIPTS and a large part of the C code are different from the current
ncr53c8xx driver and will be far different in the final release.
There is no GPL problem in my opinion. All the contributions related to
the ncr53c8xx driver and the new one _are_ under GPL. The only thing which
is changed in the new driver is that major contributions will be
Copyrighted by their authors as it is the practise under Linux.
I already have posted about my decision to provide a new driver and have
added a README file with the current distribution that explain the
_technical_ reasons that have made my decision.
Symbios did something different:
- Provides a generic driver for all chips up to 895.
- Provides a specific driver for the 896.
Based on technical considerations, it is not possible to provide the best
driver for 810A, ..., 895 that also supports old 810, 815, 825, unless it
is in fact 2 drivers embedded into a single driver.
For having disassembled part of some binary driver SCRIPTS (guess which
ones), I can tell that the best driver for very common 810A, etc..., 895
chips is the latest pre-sym53c8xx driver for Linux.
The plan is to have this driver at production level during the linux-2.2
stabilization process.
If I deserve baton for that, then let me know on what planet we are
living.
Regards,
Gerard.
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