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Date:      Tue, 14 Mar 2000 14:26:08 -0500
From:      Dennis <dennis@etinc.com>
To:        "Pedro F. Giffuni" <giffunip@asme.org>, Zach Brown <zab@zabbo.net>
Cc:        hackers@freebsd.org
Subject:   Re: Is FreeBSD dead? Well, not in theory...
Message-ID:  <200003141930.OAA07762@etinc.com>
In-Reply-To: <38CE7192.1478667E@asme.org>
References:  <200003101840.NAA12885@etinc.com> <Pine.BSF.4.05.10003111306520.14049-100000@bsd1.nyct.net> <200003111841.NAA17534@etinc.com> <20000314105708.U6300@devserv.devel.redhat.com>

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At 12:06 PM 3/14/00 -0500, Pedro F. Giffuni wrote:
>Please guys,
>
>Move this intrascendental thread to freebsd-chat !
>
>Zach Brown wrote:
>> 
>> > Another point is that Open Source is virtually synonomous with "Totally
>> > undocumented". The linux community, years into it, are still totally
>> > dependent on Alan Cox to fix drivers properly (mostly because the OS is
>> > completely undocumented and changes are made on a whim regularly). D.
>> 
>> This is, not surprisingly, incorrect.  I'm mildly curious to know how
>> you arrived at this opinion, but only mildly.  I'm sure the list
>> cares even less.
>> 
>> Alan can be seen as a concentrator/reviewer for the 2.2.x line.
>> He actually authors a small percentage of the code that passes through
>> him to Linus.

Most of the DDI (if you bear to call it that) is not documeneted properly
and much of it is in fact wrong. The device driver book was wrong before it
hit the stands. The only way I've been able to get answers is to ask him.
The docs are ok as long as you are building a "to the spec" ethernet
driver, but anything else (all of which use the same interface) its a bit
of a crapshoot.

Call him a "reviewer" if you will. but none of it works unless he conveys
how it needs to be done. Hang out on the lists for awhile...hes the only
one with answers to specific coding questions.

db




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