[Intel-gfx] FreeBSD i915 driver update

[Scott Long]

> On May 13, 2016, at 1:34 AM, Jani Nikula <jani.nikula at linux.intel.com> wrote:
> 
> 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!

Hi Jani,

Thanks for the encouraging words.  The amazing work of Matt
and Jean-Sebastian is proving the wisdom of keeping the diffs
small and focusing on the kernel interfaces.  As they work on
completing the code and bringing it to maturity, we’ll be looking
for ways to unobtrusively organize any necessary deltas and post
patches here for review.  With FreeBSD being prepared for
release in only a few months, there’s a good chance that it could
be the first platform to support Gen9 hardware in a stock, non-
experimental configuration.  Stay tuned!

Thanks,
Scott