I dont think there is a simple answer
Clear bug fixes
o if I do this it crashes the kernel. This patch stops it
o if I do this it violates the standard
Clearly new stuff
o New file system
o Rewriting the VM
o Adding all the flash device support
Now of the new there are three categories:
1. A driver or file system or protocol stack using existing interfaces that
makes no change to the rest of the kernel. If turning the module otpion
off gives a kernel that has no changes then this is good.
These kind of things can be added almost any time as they dont impact
stability for anyone else and a bad driver is generally better than
no support
2. Stuff that tweaks internals a bit (extreme case rewriting the VM).
You get it wrong and everyone gets crashes. Has to be done with care
well tested and preferably earlier in the cycle
3. Changing the interfaces themselves and breaking all drivers or all
file systems. This should be done early. Some of Al Viro's stuff
was late (but probably wise in the long term) and this caused a fair
bit of friction
Alan
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This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Tue Aug 15 2000 - 21:00:19 EST