Re: [U-Boot] Initial environment variables
--- On Thu, 7/16/09, Mike Frysinger vapier@gentoo.org wrote:
the board maintainer decides the default env values, not board users. Ben's comment was probably on the assumption that you are in the latter category.
Ah, that could be why. Thankfully I am the maintainer for the board. So I am going to assume then that it would be OK for me to add these variable settings to my board's include/configs file and submit a patch for it, unless I here other objections.
Ron
Ron Madrid wrote:
--- On Thu, 7/16/09, Mike Frysinger vapier@gentoo.org wrote:
the board maintainer decides the default env values, not board users. Ben's comment was probably on the assumption that you are in the latter category.
Ah, that could be why. Thankfully I am the maintainer for the board. So I am going to assume then that it would be OK for me to add these variable settings to my board's include/configs file and submit a patch for it, unless I here other objections.
Ron
No, there should be no default net parameters, because you're making likely-bogus assumptions about the network that your board's going to go into. Just because your LAN uses '192.168.0.x' doesn't mean anybody else's does. It's even worse for MAC addresses - what if I buy two of your boards and plug them into the same switch? If the addresses are identical all sorts of bad things can happen. Not to mention that public MAC addresses are assigned (and paid for) and should be guaranteed to be unique. And private (bit 41 set) addresses are used in many different ways. One systems company that I worked at would program these dynamically based on which shelf/slot the board was plugged into. It's best to fail loudly (a printf stating that MAC addresses haven't been programmed) than to silently cause network issues. I could go on and on, but hopefully you get the point.
regards, Ben
On Thursday 16 July 2009 17:08:55 Ben Warren wrote:
Ron Madrid wrote:
--- On Thu, 7/16/09, Mike Frysinger vapier@gentoo.org wrote:
the board maintainer decides the default env values, not board users. Ben's comment was probably on the assumption that you are in the latter category.
Ah, that could be why. Thankfully I am the maintainer for the board. So I am going to assume then that it would be OK for me to add these variable settings to my board's include/configs file and submit a patch for it, unless I here other objections.
No, there should be no default net parameters, because you're making likely-bogus assumptions about the network that your board's going to go into. Just because your LAN uses '192.168.0.x' doesn't mean anybody else's does.
i dont see why this is a problem. providing a consistent default network setup doesnt cause any problems whatsoever. if you have a different network layout, then it's trivial to (1) change it or (2) type "dhcp".
this is the first ive heard against letting board maintainers dictate default network settings. i do it for all ADI Blackfin boards and never once have i heard a complaint from people who use them.
It's even worse for MAC addresses - what if I buy two of your boards and plug them into the same switch? If the addresses are identical all sorts of bad things can happen. Not to mention that public MAC addresses are assigned (and paid for) and should be guaranteed to be unique. And private (bit 41 set) addresses are used in many different ways. One systems company that I worked at would program these dynamically based on which shelf/slot the board was plugged into. It's best to fail loudly (a printf stating that MAC addresses haven't been programmed) than to silently cause network issues.
MAC addresses are a completely different issue than IP settings. i agree that there should never be a default environment value in any board in the tree. a quick grep of the tree indicates that people have been very bad in this area (and i see that i merged two such Blackfin boards). i'll send patches for the two boards i watch over. -mike
Dear Ron Madrid,
In message 401734.38482.qm@web83507.mail.sp1.yahoo.com you wrote:
the board maintainer decides the default env values, not board users. Ben's comment was probably on the assumption that you are in the latter category.
Ah, that could be why. Thankfully I am the maintainer for the board. So I am going to assume then that it would be OK for me to add these variable settings to my board's include/configs file and submit a patch for it, unless I here other objections.
We do not accept any "default network configurations" in the board configuration. It makes no sense when all boards come up with the very same network setting - it only causes problems and frustration.
[Don't tell me about "useful" use cases - all thse can be done in different ways, easier.]
Best regards,
Wolfgang Denk
participants (4)
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Ben Warren -
Mike Frysinger -
Ron Madrid -
Wolfgang Denk