Re: [RFC PATCH V4 6/6] riscv: soc: Add Allwinner SoC kconfig option

[Krzysztof Kozlowski]

On 14/09/2021 12:13, Maxime Ripard wrote:
> On Tue, Sep 14, 2021 at 12:07:08PM +0200, Krzysztof Kozlowski wrote:
>> On Tue, 14 Sept 2021 at 11:31, Arnd Bergmann <arnd@xxxxxxxx> wrote:
>>> Some subsystem maintainers want drivers to be selected by the SoC
>>> option, this is why you need the 'select SIFIVE_PLIC', but usually
>>> the drivers are selectable with a 'depends on ARCH_SUNXI ||
>>> COMPILE_TEST' and enabled in the defconfig.
>>
>> I would say selecting drivers is even more useful for distros and
>> other downstream users. Especially in the ARM world where we have so
>> many different SoCs - how could a distro person know which driver is
>> necessary, important or useful? Having all main SoC drivers enabled
>> when ARCH_SUNXI=y, helps distro a lot.
> 
> Imply, maybe, but select is far too painful for everyone else.

If we talk about UART driver, then sure - imply makes sense. But if we
talk about core SoC components necessary for boot (e.g. timers, clocks,
pinctrl), then select is appropriate. There is no point to enable
ARCH_XXX without these core components.


Best regards,
Krzysztof