In message Pine.LNX.4.61.0409151552180.4098@mag.sysgo.com you wrote:
I must have misunderstood you: didn't you want a solution that is available on PPC, ARM and MIPS? It is not at all likely that the ARM
Yes.
folks give up their ATAGs in favour of PPCs bi_recs because of a
So this discussion should probably take place on lkml instead? ;-)
boot-loader, let alone one they never wanted in the first place. Even given that ATAG's and bi_recs are essentially the same, it will hardly allow U-Boots implementation nor the kernel API to have much common code.
You got an important point here: ATAG's and bi_recs _are_ essentially the same, except for the name. I have no preference for either of these names, and I will not complain the the PowerPC and MIPS soultions use something which is called ATAG, too.
From that point of view, Pantelis's proposal looks much more generic,
and people are willing to develop it now.
I see what it can do, but I see also all the problems that are involved. If we implement something new, then please let's do it right: let's actually try to learn from all the previous discussions and implementations and create something which does not introduce new known problems, and which is not restricted to a specific boot loader.
Best regards,
Wolfgang Denk