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

[Arnd Bergmann]

On Tue, Sep 14, 2021 at 2:11 PM Krzysztof Kozlowski <krzk@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
> 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.

Please never use 'imply', this is functionally the same as 'default', just
the wrong way around, like the infamous 'comefrom' instruction
in programming languages ;-)

I still prefer using defaults and defconfig files over 'select', but I can
see the use of select in some cases, as long as the symbol you
are selecting is not already user visible.

        Arnd