From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 From: Harald Welte Subject: Re: [PATCH net-next 0/4] gtp: support multiple APN's per GTP endpoint Date: Tue, 14 Mar 2017 14:52:59 +0100 Message-ID: <20170314135259.xcu6d24higtla7k5@nataraja> References: <20170314112548.24027-1-aschultz@tpip.net> <20170314114538.GC2992@salvia> <2005226672.385248.1489495364893.JavaMail.zimbra@tpip.net> <20170314134216.GA4170@salvia> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Cc: Pablo Neira Ayuso , osmocom-net-gprs , netdev , Lionel Gauthier To: Andreas Schultz Return-path: Received: from ganesha.gnumonks.org ([213.95.27.120]:42380 "EHLO ganesha.gnumonks.org" rhost-flags-OK-OK-OK-OK) by vger.kernel.org with ESMTP id S1750780AbdCNOPG (ORCPT ); Tue, 14 Mar 2017 10:15:06 -0400 Content-Disposition: inline In-Reply-To: <20170314134216.GA4170@salvia> Sender: netdev-owner@vger.kernel.org List-ID: Hi Andreas, On Tue, Mar 14, 2017 at 02:42:16PM +0100, Pablo Neira Ayuso wrote: > On Tue, Mar 14, 2017 at 01:42:44PM +0100, Andreas Schultz wrote: > > The only supported and documented API for the GTP module is libgtpnl. > > No, the netlink interface itself if the API. > > Stopping trying to find a reason to break API, that is a no-go. As much as one might dislike it as a developer in this particular case, the Linux kernel has the very well communicated rule: All userspace visible interfaces must not change in an incompatible way. This includes of course all the syscalls, the ioctl() parameters but also the netlink interfaces of the networking stack. The statement "nobody ever used it" is a statement you can never make in FOSS software, as you don't know of 99.9999999% of all the users of your software. The fact that none of the FOSS projects that any of us was involved in may not have used a certain feature doesn't mean nobody else has been using it privately, quietly. Keep in mind that several Linux distributions have already been shipping the gtp module as part of their stable releases meanwhile. Also, no matter what Pablo or I may think about, there are general rules about how Linux kernel development is done (from coding style to merge windows, and also userspace compatibility), and we all have to obey them. There's little point in discussing about them, we all just have to live with them. Regards, Harald -- - Harald Welte http://laforge.gnumonks.org/ ============================================================================ "Privacy in residential applications is a desirable marketing option." (ETSI EN 300 175-7 Ch. A6)