Re: [dpdk-dev] [PATCH] doc: announce KNI ethtool removal

[Thomas Monjalon <thomas.monjalon@6wind.com>]

2016-07-21 15:54, Jay Rolette:
> On Thu, Jul 21, 2016 at 3:32 PM, Thomas Monjalon <thomas.monjalon@6wind.com>
> wrote:
> > 2016-07-21 13:20, Jay Rolette:
> > > On Thu, Jul 21, 2016 at 10:33 AM, Ferruh Yigit <ferruh.yigit@intel.com>
> > > wrote:
> > > > KNI ethtool is functional and maintained, and it may have users!
> > > >
> > > > Why just removing it, specially without providing an alternative?
> > > > Is is good time to discuss KCP again?
> > >
> > > Yes, my product uses it.
> >
> > Your product uses what? KCP? KNI? KNI ethtool?
> 
> Sorry, that wasn't very clear. It uses KNI + ifconfig to configure the
> device/interface in Linux. I'm assuming the "ethtool" bits under discussion
> are the same things that make ifconfig work with KNI to the limited extent
> it does.

What are you configuring with ifconfig?

> > Seems like we are back to the same discussion we
> > > had a few months ago about the KNI situation...
> > >
> > > It shouldn't be removed unless there is a replacement, ideally one that
> > > works with the normal Linux tools like every other network device.
> >
> > This ethtool module works only for igb and ixgbe!
> > There is already no replacement for other drivers.
> > Who works on a replacement?
> 
> Ferruh submitted KCP previously, but you guys didn't like the fact that it
> was a kernel module.

No we didn't like having yet another out-of-tree kernel module.
We'd love having KCP in Linux.

> IIRC, one of the gains from that was simplified
> maintenance because you didn't need driver specific support for KNI.
> Assuming he's still willing to beat it into shape, we have something that
> is already most of the way there.
> 
> If people are going to continue to block it because it is a kernel module,
> then IMO, it's better to leave the existing support on igx / ixgbe in place
> instead of stepping backwards to zero support for ethtool.

Maybe that one day you will want to use something else than ixgbe in your
product (and have more than 10 Gb). This day you'll find other solutions
than using KNI ethtool.

> > While the code wasn't ready at the time, it was a definite improvement
> > over what we have with KNI today.