[ofa-general] OFED meeting sumary on June 02, 08

[Tziporet Koren]

OFED meeting summary on June 2, 08 

Summary:
--------
1. OFED 1.3.1 release should be out today
2. OFED 1.4 development - ongoing
3. Decided to elect a new chair and co-chair to the EWG
4. Decided on libraries backward compatibility process

Details:
--------
1. OFED 1.3.1 status:
   Release is expected on Tuesday June 3.
	
2. OFED 1.4:
   - Kernel rebase status: Backports are available for all kernels
     between 2.6.26-rc2 and kernel 2.6.16.
     Work is ongoing and expected to be completed this week.
     URL: git://git.openfabrics.org/ofed_1_4/linux-2.6.git ofed_kernel
   - There is a request to delay the feature freeze to July to implement
CMA support for IPv6.
     Prefer not to delay the general feature freeze but take this one as
an exception.

3. Electing a chair and co-chair to the EWG:
   Decided on the following process for election:
   a. Jim Ryan will email the XWG and EWG requesting nominations and
explaining the process.
   b. Time frame:
      Nominees will present themselves at the next ewg meeting on June
18.
      Chair and co-chair selection will be made in 4 weeks, by June 30.

4. Backward compatibility of libraries:
   Problem: Qlogic found late in OFED 1.3 release process that one of
opensm libraries had 
            changed the binary API, and this brake some of the
customers' application.
   Decisions: 
   1. Need to preserve binary API of libraries and not break backward
compatibility (even if it requires extra efforts)
   2. In case binary API must be changed, then both versions will be
included in OFED to prevent broken applications.
      Also - a plan for deprecation of the old library should be
published.
   3. Changes in the API must be done before RC1.


Tziporet