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Linus Torvalds1da177e2005-04-16 15:20:36 -07001The following is a list of files and features that are going to be
2removed in the kernel source tree. Every entry should contain what
3exactly is going away, why it is happening, and who is going to be doing
4the work. When the feature is removed from the kernel, it should also
5be removed from this file.
6
7---------------------------
8
Adrian Bunk98e7f292005-06-25 14:59:37 -07009What: RAW driver (CONFIG_RAW_DRIVER)
10When: December 2005
11Why: declared obsolete since kernel 2.6.3
12 O_DIRECT can be used instead
13Who: Adrian Bunk <bunk@stusta.de>
14
15---------------------------
16
Adrian Bunkaafda4e2006-04-20 02:43:21 -070017What: drivers that were depending on OBSOLETE_OSS_DRIVER
18 (config options already removed)
19When: before 2.6.19
Adrian Bunkcecd1ca2005-11-08 21:34:45 -080020Why: OSS drivers with ALSA replacements
21Who: Adrian Bunk <bunk@stusta.de>
22
23---------------------------
24
Jody McIntyrea1446c72005-05-16 21:53:59 -070025What: raw1394: requests of type RAW1394_REQ_ISO_SEND, RAW1394_REQ_ISO_LISTEN
Ben Collinsd0aef392006-06-12 18:14:27 -040026When: November 2006
Jody McIntyrea1446c72005-05-16 21:53:59 -070027Why: Deprecated in favour of the new ioctl-based rawiso interface, which is
28 more efficient. You should really be using libraw1394 for raw1394
29 access anyway.
Ben Collinsd0aef392006-06-12 18:14:27 -040030Who: Jody McIntyre <scjody@modernduck.com>
Grant Coady937df8d2005-05-12 11:59:29 +100031
32---------------------------
33
Stefan Richter24d3bf82006-05-15 22:04:59 +020034What: sbp2: module parameter "force_inquiry_hack"
35When: July 2006
36Why: Superceded by parameter "workarounds". Both parameters are meant to be
37 used ad-hoc and for single devices only, i.e. not in modprobe.conf,
38 therefore the impact of this feature replacement should be low.
39Who: Stefan Richter <stefanr@s5r6.in-berlin.de>
40
41---------------------------
42
Mauro Carvalho Chehab875c2962005-11-08 21:38:53 -080043What: Video4Linux API 1 ioctls and video_decoder.h from Video devices.
44When: July 2006
45Why: V4L1 AP1 was replaced by V4L2 API. during migration from 2.4 to 2.6
46 series. The old API have lots of drawbacks and don't provide enough
47 means to work with all video and audio standards. The newer API is
48 already available on the main drivers and should be used instead.
49 Newer drivers should use v4l_compat_translate_ioctl function to handle
50 old calls, replacing to newer ones.
51 Decoder iocts are using internally to allow video drivers to
52 communicate with video decoders. This should also be improved to allow
53 V4L2 calls being translated into compatible internal ioctls.
54Who: Mauro Carvalho Chehab <mchehab@brturbo.com.br>
55
56---------------------------
57
Dominik Brodowskibf45d9b02005-07-07 17:58:58 -070058What: PCMCIA control ioctl (needed for pcmcia-cs [cardmgr, cardctl])
59When: November 2005
60Files: drivers/pcmcia/: pcmcia_ioctl.c
61Why: With the 16-bit PCMCIA subsystem now behaving (almost) like a
62 normal hotpluggable bus, and with it using the default kernel
63 infrastructure (hotplug, driver core, sysfs) keeping the PCMCIA
64 control ioctl needed by cardmgr and cardctl from pcmcia-cs is
65 unnecessary, and makes further cleanups and integration of the
66 PCMCIA subsystem into the Linux kernel device driver model more
67 difficult. The features provided by cardmgr and cardctl are either
68 handled by the kernel itself now or are available in the new
69 pcmciautils package available at
70 http://kernel.org/pub/linux/utils/kernel/pcmcia/
71Who: Dominik Brodowski <linux@brodo.de>
Harald Welte7af4cc32005-08-09 19:44:15 -070072
73---------------------------
74
75What: ip_queue and ip6_queue (old ipv4-only and ipv6-only netfilter queue)
76When: December 2005
77Why: This interface has been obsoleted by the new layer3-independent
78 "nfnetlink_queue". The Kernel interface is compatible, so the old
79 ip[6]tables "QUEUE" targets still work and will transparently handle
80 all packets into nfnetlink queue number 0. Userspace users will have
81 to link against API-compatible library on top of libnfnetlink_queue
82 instead of the current 'libipq'.
83Who: Harald Welte <laforge@netfilter.org>
Christoph Hellwig49705b72005-11-08 21:35:06 -080084
85---------------------------
86
Christoph Hellwigac515892006-03-24 03:18:22 -080087What: remove EXPORT_SYMBOL(kernel_thread)
88When: August 2006
89Files: arch/*/kernel/*_ksyms.c
90Why: kernel_thread is a low-level implementation detail. Drivers should
91 use the <linux/kthread.h> API instead which shields them from
92 implementation details and provides a higherlevel interface that
93 prevents bugs and code duplication
94Who: Christoph Hellwig <hch@lst.de>
95
96---------------------------
97
Ingo Molnara9df3d02006-01-14 13:21:33 -080098What: CONFIG_FORCED_INLINING
99When: June 2006
100Why: Config option is there to see if gcc is good enough. (in january
101 2006). If it is, the behavior should just be the default. If it's not,
102 the option should just go away entirely.
103Who: Arjan van de Ven
104
105---------------------------
106
NeilBrowne8a00332005-11-15 00:09:11 -0800107What: START_ARRAY ioctl for md
108When: July 2006
109Files: drivers/md/md.c
110Why: Not reliable by design - can fail when most needed.
111 Alternatives exist
112Who: NeilBrown <neilb@suse.de>
Ralf Baechlee0c9b792005-11-08 22:36:48 +0000113
114---------------------------
115
Bunkc0d3c0c2006-02-07 01:43:31 -0500116What: eepro100 network driver
117When: January 2007
118Why: replaced by the e100 driver
119Who: Adrian Bunk <bunk@stusta.de>
Jeff Garzik3c9b3a82006-02-07 01:47:12 -0500120
121---------------------------
122
Adrian Bunk1e5f5e52006-08-31 21:27:46 -0700123What: drivers depending on OSS_OBSOLETE_DRIVER
124When: options in 2.6.20, code in 2.6.22
125Why: OSS drivers with ALSA replacements
126Who: Adrian Bunk <bunk@stusta.de>
127
128---------------------------
129
Richard Knutsson051d9892005-12-03 02:34:12 +0100130What: pci_module_init(driver)
131When: January 2007
132Why: Is replaced by pci_register_driver(pci_driver).
133Who: Richard Knutsson <ricknu-0@student.ltu.se> and Greg Kroah-Hartman <gregkh@suse.de>
Jean Delvarec5e3fbf2006-01-18 22:39:48 +0100134
135---------------------------
136
Thomas Gleixner7d99b7d2006-03-25 03:06:35 -0800137What: Usage of invalid timevals in setitimer
138When: March 2007
139Why: POSIX requires to validate timevals in the setitimer call. This
140 was never done by Linux. The invalid (e.g. negative timevals) were
141 silently converted to more or less random timeouts and intervals.
142 Until the removal a per boot limited number of warnings is printed
143 and the timevals are sanitized.
144
145Who: Thomas Gleixner <tglx@linutronix.de>
146
147---------------------------
148
Jean Delvarec5e3fbf2006-01-18 22:39:48 +0100149What: I2C interface of the it87 driver
150When: January 2007
151Why: The ISA interface is faster and should be always available. The I2C
152 probing is also known to cause trouble in at least one case (see
153 bug #5889.)
154Who: Jean Delvare <khali@linux-fr.org>
Greg Kroah-Hartmanfa675762006-02-22 09:39:02 -0800155
156---------------------------
157
Arjan van de Venf71d20e2006-06-28 04:26:45 -0700158What: Unused EXPORT_SYMBOL/EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL exports
159 (temporary transition config option provided until then)
160 The transition config option will also be removed at the same time.
161When: before 2.6.19
162Why: Unused symbols are both increasing the size of the kernel binary
163 and are often a sign of "wrong API"
164Who: Arjan van de Ven <arjan@linux.intel.com>
165
166---------------------------
167
Greg Kroah-Hartmanfa675762006-02-22 09:39:02 -0800168What: mount/umount uevents
169When: February 2007
170Why: These events are not correct, and do not properly let userspace know
171 when a file system has been mounted or unmounted. Userspace should
172 poll the /proc/mounts file instead to detect this properly.
173Who: Greg Kroah-Hartman <gregkh@suse.de>
Ralf Baechlecf028d12006-03-02 16:50:12 +0000174
175---------------------------
176
Greg Kroah-Hartmanb87ba0a2006-03-20 13:17:13 -0800177What: USB driver API moves to EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL
178When: Febuary 2008
179Files: include/linux/usb.h, drivers/usb/core/driver.c
180Why: The USB subsystem has changed a lot over time, and it has been
181 possible to create userspace USB drivers using usbfs/libusb/gadgetfs
182 that operate as fast as the USB bus allows. Because of this, the USB
183 subsystem will not be allowing closed source kernel drivers to
184 register with it, after this grace period is over. If anyone needs
185 any help in converting their closed source drivers over to use the
186 userspace filesystems, please contact the
187 linux-usb-devel@lists.sourceforge.net mailing list, and the developers
188 there will be glad to help you out.
189Who: Greg Kroah-Hartman <gregkh@suse.de>
190
191---------------------------
Nick Piggin93fac702006-03-31 02:29:56 -0800192
193What: find_trylock_page
194When: January 2007
195Why: The interface no longer has any callers left in the kernel. It
196 is an odd interface (compared with other find_*_page functions), in
197 that it does not take a refcount to the page, only the page lock.
198 It should be replaced with find_get_page or find_lock_page if possible.
199 This feature removal can be reevaluated if users of the interface
200 cannot cleanly use something else.
201Who: Nick Piggin <npiggin@suse.de>
202
203---------------------------
Ralf Baechle127fe6a2006-06-28 12:28:27 +0100204
205What: Support for the MIPS EV96100 evaluation board
206When: September 2006
207Why: Does no longer build since at least November 15, 2003, apparently
208 no userbase left.
209Who: Ralf Baechle <ralf@linux-mips.org>
210
211---------------------------
212
213What: Support for the Momentum / PMC-Sierra Jaguar ATX evaluation board
214When: September 2006
215Why: Does no longer build since quite some time, and was never popular,
216 due to the platform being replaced by successor models. Apparently
217 no user base left. It also is one of the last users of
218 WANT_PAGE_VIRTUAL.
219Who: Ralf Baechle <ralf@linux-mips.org>
220
221---------------------------
222
223What: Support for the Momentum Ocelot, Ocelot 3, Ocelot C and Ocelot G
224When: September 2006
225Why: Some do no longer build and apparently there is no user base left
226 for these platforms.
227Who: Ralf Baechle <ralf@linux-mips.org>
228
229---------------------------
230
231What: Support for MIPS Technologies' Altas and SEAD evaluation board
232When: September 2006
233Why: Some do no longer build and apparently there is no user base left
234 for these platforms. Hardware out of production since several years.
235Who: Ralf Baechle <ralf@linux-mips.org>
236
237---------------------------
238
239What: Support for the IT8172-based platforms, ITE 8172G and Globespan IVR
240When: September 2006
241Why: Code does no longer build since at least 2.6.0, apparently there is
242 no user base left for these platforms. Hardware out of production
243 since several years and hardly a trace of the manufacturer left on
244 the net.
245Who: Ralf Baechle <ralf@linux-mips.org>
246
247---------------------------
Thomas Gleixner6e213612006-07-01 19:29:03 -0700248
249What: Interrupt only SA_* flags
250When: Januar 2007
251Why: The interrupt related SA_* flags are replaced by IRQF_* to move them
252 out of the signal namespace.
253
254Who: Thomas Gleixner <tglx@linutronix.de>
255
256---------------------------
Jean Delvare5a017482006-07-01 17:13:37 +0200257
258What: i2c-ite and i2c-algo-ite drivers
259When: September 2006
260Why: These drivers never compiled since they were added to the kernel
261 tree 5 years ago. This feature removal can be reevaluated if
262 someone shows interest in the drivers, fixes them and takes over
263 maintenance.
264 http://marc.theaimsgroup.com/?l=linux-mips&m=115040510817448
265Who: Jean Delvare <khali@linux-fr.org>
266
267---------------------------
Patrick McHardy10ea6ac2006-07-24 22:54:55 -0700268
269What: Bridge netfilter deferred IPv4/IPv6 output hook calling
270When: January 2007
271Why: The deferred output hooks are a layering violation causing unusual
272 and broken behaviour on bridge devices. Examples of things they
273 break include QoS classifation using the MARK or CLASSIFY targets,
274 the IPsec policy match and connection tracking with VLANs on a
275 bridge. Their only use is to enable bridge output port filtering
276 within iptables with the physdev match, which can also be done by
277 combining iptables and ebtables using netfilter marks. Until it
278 will get removed the hook deferral is disabled by default and is
279 only enabled when needed.
280
281Who: Patrick McHardy <kaber@trash.net>
282
283---------------------------
Stephen Hemminger080f22c2006-09-13 21:13:54 -0700284
285What: frame diverter
286When: November 2006
287Why: The frame diverter is included in most distribution kernels, but is
288 broken. It does not correctly handle many things:
289 - IPV6
290 - non-linear skb's
291 - network device RCU on removal
292 - input frames not correctly checked for protocol errors
293 It also adds allocation overhead even if not enabled.
294 It is not clear if anyone is still using it.
295Who: Stephen Hemminger <shemminger@osdl.org>
296
Kay Sieversd81d9d62006-08-13 06:17:09 +0200297---------------------------
298
299
300What: PHYSDEVPATH, PHYSDEVBUS, PHYSDEVDRIVER in the uevent environment
301When: Oktober 2008
302Why: The stacking of class devices makes these values misleading and
303 inconsistent.
304 Class devices should not carry any of these properties, and bus
305 devices have SUBSYTEM and DRIVER as a replacement.
306Who: Kay Sievers <kay.sievers@suse.de>
307
308---------------------------