Messages in this thread | | | Date | Fri, 10 Feb 2023 09:51:57 +0100 | From | Daniel Lezcano <> | Subject | Re: [PATCH 0/3] Support timer drivers as loadable modules |
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On Thu, Feb 09, 2023 at 11:50:49AM -0800, John Stultz wrote: > On Thu, Feb 9, 2023 at 7:36 AM Daniel Lezcano <daniel.lezcano@linaro.org> wrote: > > > > On 08/02/2023 10:48, walter.chang@mediatek.com wrote: > > > From: Walter Chang <walter.chang@mediatek.com> > > > > > > This patch exports functions in kernel so that timer drivers, > > > such as timer-mediatek.c can become loadable modules in GKI. > > > > What for ? > > In general, it's the same reason why modules exist: We want to be able > to support a wide array of devices with a single kernel, but we don't > want all devices to pay the memory cost of code that will never be > used there. So being able to support loading device-specific bits like > clocksources (along with other device specific logic) helps.
Agree, that is why modules are for.
> Obviously it still has to make sense, and others have raised concerns > of stability issues if the hardware support is needed before we can > get to module loading, but I think if this allows drivers (such as > timer-mediatek) to be loadable safely, I see it as beneficial.
From a technical point of view, it is arguable.
But my main concern is the real reason of changing this to the module format. I see that as a way to overcome the effort to upstream the drivers. And the GKI is an alibi to justify the module conversion.
Given the timers is a base brick of the core subsystems, without proper support of the timer (eg. bug fixes), the platform support will be wobbly.
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