Re: [PATCH v10 1/1] virtio_console: Add support for multiple ports for generic guest and host communication

From: Christian Borntraeger
Date: Fri Nov 06 2009 - 03:00:57 EST


Am Freitag 06 November 2009 08:10:02 schrieb Rusty Russell:
> On Wed, 4 Nov 2009 03:08:39 am Amit Shah wrote:
> > Expose multiple char devices ("ports") for simple communication
> > between the host userspace and guest.
>
> OK, I've taken the chance to audit this patch. I started adding patches
> until I got overwhelmed. It's a complete mess and needs a total rewrite
> :(

I know that Anthony disagrees, but _If we start over_, I still think we should
use that chance and leave the old virtio console untouched and add a new driver
for the host guest communication. IMHO it turned out that there is only a tiny
bit of commonality. (most code pathes check for use_multiport and then do two
completely different things).
I like simplicity. According to David A. Wheeler's SLOCCount, the old console
has 141 lines of code and the I truly believe that a separate guest-host comm
vehicle would also be a lot simpler if it must not take care of the old
virtio_console interface.

On the other hand we all should agree on one driver vs. two drivers before we go
on. Everything else would be unfair to Amit, who had the unpleasant task to
implement conflicting review comments....

Christian
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