[linuxsh-dev] Preparing for 2.5

[M. R. B. <mr...@0x...>]

Today Linus hinted that 2.5.x is right around the corner.  This is probably
a good idea for LinuxSH to decide what's going to happen to the port during
the 2.5 cycle.  Here are some of my ideas:

- SH backend drop-in tree and restructuring.  Yes, I know it's been months
  since anyone has heard anything from me on this, but this week I'll be
  cleaning up the drop-in tree started by Greg and preparing to import it
  into CVS under a 'linux' module.  The initial drop-in tree will be
  against the 2.4 series.  Once this is done we should *completely* abandon
  the massive 'kernel' module, since all of the relevant drop-in code will
  be the linux module anyway.  And no, I would've suggested archiving point
  releases of the kernel module, but it seems that mainline merges (from
  mainline to LinuxSH haven't been tagged for a looong time).  Just file a
  SR at Sourceforge to remove the darn thing :P.

- After the 2.4 drop-in tree is in place, I'll start moving files around
  per the RFC from a few months back.  This will all be done under a
  seperate 2.5 branch, 2.4 will continue to be maintained in the same
  module (just tagged against future 2.4 releases).  That is, 2.4 and 2.5
  will coexist in the same module.  This is actually quite easy to do with
  CVS, and I'll be writing a doc to cover it in case someone feels like
  (*cough*) arguing that point.

- What's up for 2.5?  When I met with NIIBE-san at LWE, he mentioned that
  one of the main things he saw for 2.5 was the beginnings of SH5 support.
  The SH5 has a dual-addressing mode, so we'll have to start working on
  64-bit support for the backend, among other things.  Did anyone else have
  agendas for 2.5?  With the new layout/restructuring, hopefully it'll be
  a lot easier to add support for new boards and processors.

  Also, I wanted to start taking a hard look at the current arch-dependent
  API exposed in the SH backend.  PCI cleanups, the machvec, etc. all need
  to be worked on.

- Website update.  This isn't necessarily my department, but we should have
  some discussions on what should go and what should be added to the
  linuxsh.sourceforge.net website.  Is this intended to be the main site
  for LinuxSH kernel work, userland work, or both?  If so, should we be
  contacting some of the other SH on Linux sites and getting them involved?
  Should we register linuxsh.org for it as well?  Reorganize the
  "Documents" section, etc.?  Greg, you're the only LinuxSH guy that I know
  of that does web work, what are some of your ideas?

- Disparate tree syncing.  Once we start working on 2.5 items, we should be
  more aware of some of the other drop-in trees that have an affect on our
  port.  The main one I can think of is the Ruby tree which contains 2.5.x
  input and framebuffer code.  For example, I'm working on a new pvr2fb
  framebuffer for Ruby, and we would want to sync that with our tree, as
  well as any other input/fb items.  The Ruby tree is part of the
  linuxconsole.sf.net project.

Since Greg created an initial drop-in tree (thanks!), I'll be syncing that
against 2.4.12-whatever, and then I'll post to the list when I'm ready to
import the new module.  The 2.5 branch will come soon after that.

M. R.