From owner-freebsd-current Thu Dec 9 6:53: 6 1999 Delivered-To: freebsd-current@freebsd.org Received: from mojave.sitaranetworks.com (mojave.sitaranetworks.com [199.103.141.157]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 98108154A5; Thu, 9 Dec 1999 06:53:00 -0800 (PST) (envelope-from grog@mojave.sitaranetworks.com) Message-ID: <19991208215049.46304@mojave.sitaranetworks.com> Date: Wed, 8 Dec 1999 21:50:49 -0500 From: Greg Lehey To: Mike Smith , Christopher Masto Cc: Julian Elischer , current@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Continuity (was: HEADSUP: wd driver will be retired!) Reply-To: Greg Lehey References: <19991208150807.A16687@netmonger.net> <199912082052.MAA00517@mass.cdrom.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii In-Reply-To: <199912082052.MAA00517@mass.cdrom.com>; from Mike Smith on Wed, Dec 08, 1999 at 12:52:37PM -0800 Sender: owner-freebsd-current@FreeBSD.ORG Precedence: bulk X-Loop: FreeBSD.ORG On Wednesday, 8 December 1999 at 12:52:37 -0800, Mike Smith wrote: >> On Wed, Dec 08, 1999 at 10:56:24AM -0800, Mike Smith wrote: >>>> You shouldn't remove a function until it has been properly replaced. >>>> A very simple concept some people seem to have trouble grasping. >>> >>> Actually, that's not at all correct. We've demonstrated a number of >>> times now that you reach a point where a brutal cutover is required. >>> Failure to do so leaves people clutching the old security blanket for >>> years, and massively impedes further development. >> >> Unfortunately, FreeBSD has far too many examples of a working system >> being replaced with a less functional system. Just off the top of my >> head, there were the SCSI drivers lost to CAM, the PCCARD system, >> sound drivers, and now ATA. > > Actually, most of this is histrionics. CAM didn't lose us SCSI drivers; > we actually _gained_ from it. If you were the owner of a number of older SCSI host adaptors, you lost. > We haven't "lost" the pccard system at all, We certainly seem to have mislaid it. My modem has got lost again, and the number of supported cards is greatly diminished. > and the new sound code is on a feature-par with both of the old > ones. I don't have a comparison there. > What we need here is a commitment to these new initiatives, not a > lot of fence-sitting and clutching our knitting to our chests. All > of these initiatives were started to deal with massive problems in > the subsystems they replace; clinging to the old code rather than > getting on-board and helping with the new code directly impedes the > resolution of these problems. I don't think this is an accurate view of the objections. > Again, I say, think of what we're trying to achieve here. One thing, I hope, is continuity. I don't see this helping. Greg -- Finger grog@lemis.com for PGP public key See complete headers for address and phone numbers To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-current" in the body of the message