4 ms·

What is the significance of this?

jagger27 7y ago
https://github.com/torvalds/linux/commit/47d6a7607443ea43dbc4d0f371bf773540a8f8f4 https://github.com/torvalds/linux/commit/47d6a7607443ea43dbc...
- cbhl 7y ago
  Looking at this again, I just realized that the person who mailed the patch that triggered the orphaning of the driver is also the person who is now volunteering to maintain the floppy driver.
  - castis 7y ago
    Denis Efremov is the new maintainer, Jiri Kosina is the old maintainer.
    - cbhl 7y ago
      Indeed, and the first line of the merge description: "Merge floppy ioctl verification fixes from Denis Efremov."
parsimo2010 7y ago
The floppy disk drivers were no longer being maintained. They were orphaning the drivers and they would eventually rot as the rest of the kernel changed around it. Then someone else stepped up to take the position of maintaining the driver. It's significant because a) some dude out there still has working floppy disk drives and feels that they might still be used, and b) this basically proves that Linux has the best legacy device support. If they didn't maintain this you would be stuck keeping an old computer alive that had a floppy drive and a CD burner, to burn any data you needed to a CD, then another old computer that has a CD drive and a USB port to move the data off a CD (/s, but only kinda).
- rmellow 7y ago
  > you would be stuck keeping an old computer alive that had a floppy drive and a CD burner, to burn any data you needed to a CD, then another old computer that has a CD drive and a USB port to move the data off a CD (/s, but only kinda). Having worked in IT, this is entirely plausible. In fact I've had to do that entire runaround except with different technology.
- droithomme 7y ago
  > you would be stuck keeping an old computer alive that had a floppy drive and a CD burner, to burn any data you needed to a CD, then another old computer that has a CD drive and a USB port to move the data off a CD (/s, but only kinda) I had to use exactly this workflow a while back. SCSI based CD burner too, which I still have... just in case. Thank you for you service, floppy driver guy, wherever you are.
- xorcist 7y ago
  No need. There is still USB floppy support which is not affected by the removal of the floppy driver.
- aidenn0 7y ago
  > If they didn't maintain this you would be stuck keeping an old computer alive that had a floppy drive and a CD burner, to burn any data you needed to a CD, then another old computer that has a CD drive and a USB port to move the data off a CD (/s, but only kinda). If I understand it right, the USB floppy drive drivers were still maintained; it's just the old ISA (now LPC) floppy controllers that were orphaned.
  - merb 7y ago
    actually doesn't vmware use the "old" isa emulation to add floppy drives as config drives?
- noonespecial 7y ago
  I still have a redhat 9 machine with a 333Mhz pentium3 cpu, 5 1/4 floppy, 3 1/2 floppy, Yamaha scsi CD burner an adpatec 2940, and a Promise Ultra100 TX2 PCI IDE Controller for strage old IDE disks. It also has a soundblaster with the wavetable addition for that old-time midi goodness. It connects via a 100mbs 3com 3C905BTX nic. I call it the network attached device driver.

https://github.com/torvalds/linux/commit/47d6a7607443ea43dbc4d0f371bf773540a8f8f4 https://github.com/torvalds/linux/commit/47d6a7607443ea43dbc...

cbhl 7y ago
Looking at this again, I just realized that the person who mailed the patch that triggered the orphaning of the driver is also the person who is now volunteering to maintain the floppy driver.
- castis 7y ago
  Denis Efremov is the new maintainer, Jiri Kosina is the old maintainer.
  - cbhl 7y ago
    Indeed, and the first line of the merge description: "Merge floppy ioctl verification fixes from Denis Efremov."

parsimo2010 7y ago

The floppy disk drivers were no longer being maintained. They were orphaning the drivers and they would eventually rot as the rest of the kernel changed around it. Then someone else stepped up to take the position of maintaining the driver. It's significant because a) some dude out there still has working floppy disk drives and feels that they might still be used, and b) this basically proves that Linux has the best legacy device support. If they didn't maintain this you would be stuck keeping an old computer alive that had a floppy drive and a CD burner, to burn any data you needed to a CD, then another old computer that has a CD drive and a USB port to move the data off a CD (/s, but only kinda).

rmellow 7y ago
> you would be stuck keeping an old computer alive that had a floppy drive and a CD burner, to burn any data you needed to a CD, then another old computer that has a CD drive and a USB port to move the data off a CD (/s, but only kinda). Having worked in IT, this is entirely plausible. In fact I've had to do that entire runaround except with different technology.
droithomme 7y ago
> you would be stuck keeping an old computer alive that had a floppy drive and a CD burner, to burn any data you needed to a CD, then another old computer that has a CD drive and a USB port to move the data off a CD (/s, but only kinda) I had to use exactly this workflow a while back. SCSI based CD burner too, which I still have... just in case. Thank you for you service, floppy driver guy, wherever you are.
xorcist 7y ago
No need. There is still USB floppy support which is not affected by the removal of the floppy driver.
aidenn0 7y ago
> If they didn't maintain this you would be stuck keeping an old computer alive that had a floppy drive and a CD burner, to burn any data you needed to a CD, then another old computer that has a CD drive and a USB port to move the data off a CD (/s, but only kinda). If I understand it right, the USB floppy drive drivers were still maintained; it's just the old ISA (now LPC) floppy controllers that were orphaned.
- merb 7y ago
  actually doesn't vmware use the "old" isa emulation to add floppy drives as config drives?
noonespecial 7y ago
I still have a redhat 9 machine with a 333Mhz pentium3 cpu, 5 1/4 floppy, 3 1/2 floppy, Yamaha scsi CD burner an adpatec 2940, and a Promise Ultra100 TX2 PCI IDE Controller for strage old IDE disks. It also has a soundblaster with the wavetable addition for that old-time midi goodness. It connects via a 100mbs 3com 3C905BTX nic. I call it the network attached device driver.