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From: Terry Lambert <terry@lambert.org>
Message-Id: <199708172006.NAA07305@phaeton.artisoft.com>
Subject: Re: Problem with my Wincast, fxtv
To: msmith@atrad.adelaide.edu.au (Michael Smith)
Date: Sun, 17 Aug 1997 13:06:20 -0700 (MST)
Cc: hasty@rah.star-gate.com, mestery@winternet.com,
        freebsd-multimedia@FreeBSD.ORG, current@FreeBSD.ORG
In-Reply-To: <199708170956.TAA04178@genesis.atrad.adelaide.edu.au> from "Michael Smith" at Aug 17, 97 07:26:17 pm
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> > Next release of the sound driver will not use isa_dmastatus from isa.c
> > rather I will duplicate the functionality in the sound driver.
> 
> Am I the only person that thinks that this is unbelievably stupid?


I don't want to get into a huge argument about this, but...

Not to put too fine a point on it, but Amancio stated what his
requirements were, and why, and why the current isa_dmastatus
code was logically combining  multiple things which he needed to
be discrete, but which the other drivers using isa_dmastatus
didn't care whether they were discrete or not.

In other words, there's a historical lumping that occurred without
consideration for the needs of the sound drivers, and rather than
acknowledging this and correcting the granularity of the implementation,
there is general defense of the status quo for no apparent reason other
than "it is the status quo, and it's less work".

Basically, "code inertia".


> All of a sudden, the sound drivers are the only kernel subsystem that
> need PnP support, and now ISA DMA support too?  Please spare a few
> seconds thought for the integrity of the system as a whole, rather
> than as a vehicle for your pet projects...

I think he has, in both cases, and I think he has found the current
framework lacking in light of the integrity of the system as a whole,
and currently only useful as a vehicle for the pet projects of people
other than himself.

The Sword of Damocles is a two-edged blade, and two-edged blades
cut both ways...


					Regards,
					Terry Lambert
					terry@lambert.org
---
Any opinions in this posting are my own and not those of my present
or previous employers.