From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Return-Path: Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org via listexpand id S1756114AbcGHTUh (ORCPT ); Fri, 8 Jul 2016 15:20:37 -0400 Received: from mail-pf0-f179.google.com ([209.85.192.179]:33537 "EHLO mail-pf0-f179.google.com" rhost-flags-OK-OK-OK-OK) by vger.kernel.org with ESMTP id S1755163AbcGHTU2 (ORCPT ); Fri, 8 Jul 2016 15:20:28 -0400 Subject: Re: [RFC PATCH 0/1] Portable Device Tree Connector -- conceptual To: Pantelis Antoniou , David Gibson References: <1467503750-31703-1-git-send-email-frowand.list@gmail.com> <20160707071548.GV14675@voom.fritz.box> <2D8CFA9A-C317-4C02-9893-169B4B77E01E@konsulko.com> Cc: robh+dt@kernel.org, stephen.boyd@linaro.org, broonie@kernel.org, Grant Likely , mark.rutland@arm.com, Matt Porter , koen@dominion.thruhere.net, linux@roeck-us.net, marex@denx.de, wsa@the-dreams.de, devicetree@vger.kernel.org, linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org, linux-i2c@vger.kernel.org, Frank Rowand From: Frank Rowand Message-ID: <577FFCEB.9010600@gmail.com> Date: Fri, 8 Jul 2016 12:20:11 -0700 User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; Linux x86_64; rv:38.0) Gecko/20100101 Thunderbird/38.4.0 MIME-Version: 1.0 In-Reply-To: <2D8CFA9A-C317-4C02-9893-169B4B77E01E@konsulko.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Sender: linux-kernel-owner@vger.kernel.org List-ID: X-Mailing-List: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org On 07/08/16 00:26, Pantelis Antoniou wrote: > Hi David, > >> On Jul 7, 2016, at 10:15 , David Gibson wrote: >> < snip > >> Given that we're going to need new code to support this new connector >> model, I think we should also fix some of the uglies in the current >> overlay format while we're at it. >> > > We need to keep compatibility with the old format. There are 5 million > RPIs sold, half a million beaglebones and C.H.I.P. is coming out too. > They all use overlays in one form or another. > > That’s not counting all the custom boards that actively use them. > > We have a user base now. Please not that I AM NOT suggesting the we remove compatibility with the old format!!! But I need to push back on the idea that we have a user base that we need to keep compatibility with. If I understand correctly, that user base is based on using much code that is not in mainline, including an altered dtc and a cape manager. People using out of tree code can not use the fact that code exists and is being widely used to force us to mainline that out of tree code. That is the risk of using out of tree code. I do not want to start a big discussion about this now since there is no plan to remove the compatibility at this point. -Frank