Examples? The whole thing is an example! [LWN.net]

Examples? The whole thing is an example!

Posted Nov 9, 2006 16:47 UTC (Thu) by iabervon (subscriber, #722)
In reply to: Examples? The whole thing is an example! by xoddam
Parent article: OSDL to fund a kernel tech writer

Actual drivers are notoriously full of things that seemed like a good idea when they were written, but we know better now, and things that weren't even good at the time, but nobody looked too closely. It would be useful to have *good* example drivers. (And, of course, a maintainer for them, because example drivers are even more likely to stick with out-of-date practices, since they don't get thoroughly tested and updated, due to not actually doing anything.)

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Examples? The whole thing is an example!

Posted Nov 9, 2006 22:57 UTC (Thu) by k8to (subscriber, #15413) [Link]

I was about to make the point that example drivers are always even worse, and then you made it for me.

It would be great if somone was hard at working crafting and maintaining code and text designed to show people the ropes of kernel work, but that someone had better lean as heavily as possible on existing known-to-minimize errors techniques.

Examples? The whole thing is an example!

Posted Nov 10, 2006 1:13 UTC (Fri) by xoddam (subscriber, #2322) [Link]

The best we can possibly do in this department is to maintain working
code properly and update it to conform with best practice. As far as I'm
aware this is exactly the job that most kernel developers already do.

Sure, not every part of the kernel is up-to-the-minute. But I promise
you that code which is used by millions of people and looked after by
several responsive developers is in better shape than any dusty 'example'
on a website or in a book that doesn't push bits around for the general
public.

Examples? The whole thing is an example!

Posted Nov 10, 2006 20:19 UTC (Fri) by rgoates (subscriber, #3280) [Link]

How about designating specific drivers and other pieces of kernel code as examples worth emulating? Kernel hackers and driver writers can discuss/argue the merits and come to some decision about which pieces of code most deserve to be examples. I personally would greatly appreciate having such direction.