Date: Wed, 07 May 1997 09:18:41 -0400 From: Dennis <dennis@etinc.com> To: dg@root.com Cc: hackers@freebsd.org Subject: Re: if_de.c ???? Message-ID: <3.0.32.19970507091837.006a68dc@etinc.com>
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At 06:27 PM 5/6/97 -0700, you wrote: >>It *is* a (mostly?) volunteer effort, and it appears from here in >>the cheap seats that Matt got irritated at something or another, and no >>longer desires to keep de current, for whatever reason. The thing >>I don't understand is why the cold shoulder given to the 211xxx >>cards by Jordan and DG, among others. So what if the cpu utilization >>is higher? These nics are cheap, and not sole source, IMHO a >>real *good* thing. > > The if_de driver is a #ifdef mess. It tries to support multiple operating >systems that are diverging quickly every day. Simply put, I can't personally >support it. This arrangement was fine while the author was willing to support >it, but he pulled support for FreeBSD and announced his intentions of only >supporting NetBSD. At that point the code started to grow some mold. One >of the problems with having such a popular NIC, coupled with little >architectural direction from the manufacturer, is that you get a variant- >a-week syndrome (different serial EEPROMs, different format for the data >in the EEPROM, etc) - and no matter what you do, it's not possible to deal >with this in a clean way. So how can I or anyone else who is knowledgeable >about the 'de' cards recommend them? Sure, the old ones work fine - but this >means nothing when you go out and buy a new one. > I'm recommending the Intel Pro/100B because I wrote the code for it. I'm >using the card in all of my machines and in wcarchive because I can support >it. While I'm no great fan of Intel NPD (network products division), the >PCI product they have produced does work quite well under FreeBSD. It's >not a proprietary chip - anyone can make a card based on it; it's just that >noone has yet done so. 'cause you'd have to buy 100,000 ICs to be able to MATCH Intels price on it.... Don't look for clones any time soon. INTELs price is too cheap. >If you really hate Intel and just can't bare the >thought of your bits going through a NIC that they make, then I suggest >finding an old DEC NIC based card and go with that. The clone problem is clear...but if this is the case then a handful (perhaps 2 or 3 vendors) should have been chosen, their names made available to users, and supported in a freebsd only driver. Dumping a card is bad news. Should we have to worry about the Intel pro/100b driver if Intel offers you a cushy SVP position and instructs you to abandon FreeBSD? :-) Dennis > Finally, it's annoying to me and others when people whine about things like >this. If people want to be useful and tell us which cards aren't working, >that's fine and we encourage this, but Jaye's rant pokes at a raw nerve >and is not helpful. "Helpful"...I doubt if this it the intent. You "encourage" ppl to push and sell freebsd based systems, but you sabotage our efforts by making the products not work mid-stream. While its certainly not intentional on your part, the effect is to induce ranting. This goes back to an earlier thread about Freebsds "plan and focus": without one its impossible to consider FreeBSD as an ongoing platform for a product offering. db > >-DG > >David Greenman >Core-team/Principal Architect, The FreeBSD Project > >
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