[Intel-gfx] FreeBSD i915 driver update

[Jani Nikula]

On Fri, 13 May 2016, Scott Long <scottl at netflix.com> wrote:
> Jean-Sébastien and other developers have been discussing a new approach
> for post-3.8.13 updates. Instead of maintaining a large set of changes,
> the plan is to keep the driver as close as possible to the upstream Linux
> version, and use straightforward shims to adapt to interfaces provided by
> FreeBSD where possible.

FWIW, I think this is likely the only viable option.

The i915 driver is a fast moving target, and I have witnessed the
struggles of full time paid developers backporting and forward porting
drm and i915 features from Linux kernel version to another. It is not a
trivial task. Last I checked, the Linux driver backports project has
also given up backporting latest drm drivers to stable kernel versions.

I don't have any FreeBSD experience and I don't know what kind of team
of developers you have, but it is my educated guess that you'll have
plenty of more productive things to do than trying to maintain a
significant amount of delta with upstream while also trying to stay
up-to-date.

> Our ultimate goal is to align closely with the Linux graphics
> development community and collaborate with Intel, ATI, and others on
> keeping FreeBSD up to date in their product development efforts.

The focus and priority of the i915 driver is obviously Linux, but I
don't see us rejecting patches that help FreeBSD if the patches
generally make sense and don't interfere with the main priority.

Good luck with your efforts!


BR,
Jani.


-- 
Jani Nikula, Intel Open Source Technology Center