Re: [PATCH v3 04/14] software node: Add software_node_match_device() API

[Bartosz Golaszewski]

On Mon, 12 Jan 2026 09:31:44 +0100, Andy Shevchenko
<andriy.shevchenko@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> said:
> On Sat, Jan 10, 2026 at 12:26:22PM +0530, Manivannan Sadhasivam via B4 Relay wrote:
>
>> Add software_node_match_device() API to match the swnode device with the
>> swnode driver. The matching is based on the compatible property in the
>> device and the driver's of_match_table.
>
> NAK. swnodes != real firmware nodes.
>

While I'm not arguing that this is *the* solution, I think it warrants
a discussion on proper matching of devices that are only backed by a software
node - for instance a serdev device on the auxiliary bus. I understand what
software nodes were historically but perhaps it's time to extend their role as
a full-blown firmware node allowing matching with drivers.

Reusing existing OF IDs is just one way, we could potentially think about a
high-level fwnode-based device to driver matching?

Bartosz