In the stock kernel everything in arch/i386/kernel/dmi_scan.c is static. So that we could have access to those functions when building outside the kernel, we copied what we needed and made dmi_ident non-static. Why is there a problem with two files the same name or two static symbols the same name? If you're going to patch the kernel the correct method is to export dmi_ident from arch/i386/kernel/dmi_scan.c, not patch the whole i2c/busses/dmi_scan.c into drivers/i2c. We shouldn't have added dmi_scan to mkpatch; that was a hack (of mine). If Red Hat copied that hack, oh well. So in short, there's no merge required. Get rid of a 'static' in arch/i386/kernel/dmi_scan.c and it's done. I copied it to get a symbol I needed, not to change anything. mds Axel Thimm wrote: > On Tue, Feb 24, 2004 at 09:34:00PM +0100, Jean Delvare wrote: > >>>What is the relation of drivers/i2c/dmi_scan.c and >>>arch/i386/kernel/dmi_scan.c? >> >>Ours is shamelessly ripped from the kernel. It was the quickest way to >>get it working with all kernels, although it was admittedly not nice. >> >> >>>It seems to be unhealthy to have two >>>files of the same name, because they overwrite their symbol >>>files. >> >>Even if you build the lm_sensors modules outside of the kernel? I never >>had a problem, and that's how I do it. > > > Yes, you are right, I didn't think about that compile path. But I know > that Red Hat for instance will only think about patching the kernel > and not start building out of the tree. Other vendors will probably > also follow the monolithic kernel rpm strategy. So it would be good to > have the patching method well working, too. > > >>>Should one of these be renamed, or the two files merged? >> >>It's a bit late to merge them (would mean that lm_sensors would only >>work with linux 2.4.26 and above, at best). >> >>Renaming it is an option, although I can hear MDS complaining from >>here, because he doesn't like renaming files under the CVS repository. >> >>I don't see any other way though. > > > What would an acceptable name be? The bugzilla reporter suggested > prepending "i2c-" to the two files.
