[Rdma-developers] Re: [openib-general] OpenIB and OpenRDMA: Convergence on common RDMAAPIs and ULPs for Linux

[Christoph Hellwig]

On Thu, Jun 02, 2005 at 05:22:26AM -0700, Caitlin Bestler wrote:
> I hadn't heard that insmod was being removed from Linux.

No one claimed that.

> In fact the DAPL Plugfest successfully used kernel
> daemons and kdapltest to demonstrate DAT interoperability
> across multiple vendors: kernel to kernel, kernel to user
> and user to user.

And that matters for this discussion exactly how?

> These are existing applications already deployed. I fail to
> see how you believe breaking them "improves" Linux.

Again, what application.  Also who says we want to "improve" Linux
to make it easier to use for everyone?  We're certainly not interested
in supporting freeloaders.

> Software like the NFS over RDMA or SDP implementations
> are developed as kernel daemons outside of the official
> kernel first. Others develop special interest drivers and
> daemons that will never be of sufficient general interest
> to be incorporated in "the kernel".

Okay, after these rants we come closer to what you actually
mean with "kernel applications".  We're certainly interested
in supporting filesystems or networking protocol, but like all
other in-kernel APIs we don't care at all about out of tree
projects.  Especially as filesystems and network protocols
are inherently part of the bigger kernel picture and benefit
from integration with other parts of the kernel.  Not even
mentioning license implications as I very strongly doubt
you can claim either of it is not a derived work.