[Mesa-dev] GBM and the Device Memory Allocator Proposals

[Emil Velikov]

Hi James,

On 21 November 2017 at 01:11, James Jones <jajones at nvidia.com> wrote:

> -I have also heard some general comments that regardless of the relationship
> between GBM and the new allocator mechanisms, it might be time to move GBM
> out of Mesa so it can be developed as a stand-alone project.  I'd be
> interested what others think about that, as it would be something worth
> coordinating with any other new development based on or inside of GBM.
>
Having a GBM frontend is one thing I've been pondering as well.

Regardless of exact solution wrt the new allocator, having a clear
frontend/backend separation for GBM will be beneficial.
I'll be giving it a stab these days.

Disclaimer: Mostly thinking out loud, so please take the following
with grain of salt.

On the details wrt the new allocator project, I think that having a
new lean library would be a good idea.
One could borrow ideas from GBM, but by default no connection between
the two should be required.

That might lead to having a the initial hurdle of porting a bit
harder, but it will allow for more efficient driver implementation.

HTH
Emil