[GNU-linux-libre] Re: PCMCIA .cis files

[Alexandre Oliva]

On Jan  2, 2011, Richard Stallman <address@hidden> wrote:

> Is it the case that you only need these files if you are running that
> module?

No, the pcmcia infrastructure was rewritten in 2.6.12 or .13.  The
program no longer works for me with a current kernel, but I can't tell
whether it is because the interface is no longer available after the
rewrite, or because it's only provided if a PCMCIA socket is present.  I
don't have any machines left with PCMCIA sockets :-(


The Card Information Structure (CIS) files are still required to
override the incorrect CIS data supplied by a number of PC Cards.


> Is it the case that you can always install that module even if you don't
> have PCMCIA in your machine?

I've just tested that it is possible to load some specific PCMCIA socket
driver on a machine that doesn't have any PCMCIA interfaces, but I don't
think I can even build the ancient 2.4-ish pcmcia module with a current
kernel, let alone run it :-(

>> Another possibility is to separate all this from Linux,

>     This is what's going to happen in upcoming releases of Linux.  We might
>     as well do that right away.

> That's a fine solution.

The files are already present in the linux-firmware repository.

Should we (Linux-libre project) maintain our own cleaned-up
linux-libre-firmware repository, or leave that for some other project to
undertake?

This might even serve as proving ground for the git rewriting solution
we're going to adopt for Linux-libre.  It would be much simpler, due to
its much shorter history, less frequent changes, and smaller number of
(remaining) files.

-- 
Alexandre Oliva, freedom fighter    http://FSFLA.org/~lxoliva/
You must be the change you wish to see in the world. -- Gandhi
Be Free! -- http://FSFLA.org/   FSF Latin America board member
Free Software Evangelist      Red Hat Brazil Compiler Engineer