Re: depends command

[Alan Jenkins <alan-jenkins@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Andreas Robinson wrote:
> On Mon, 2009-06-01 at 11:34 +0100, Alan Jenkins wrote:
>   
> > On 6/1/09, Kay Sievers <kay.sievers@xxxxxxxx> wrote:
> >     
> > > On Mon, Jun 1, 2009 at 00:15, Andreas Robinson <andr345@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> > >       
> > > > depends _modulename_ _dependency1_ _dependency2_ ...
> > > >
> > > > This command allows you to add one or more additional dependencies to a
> > > > module. *modprobe* will attempt to insert them in order, from left to
> > > > right, before dealing with _modulename_. If any dependency fails to
> > > > install, *modprobe* will stop, unless it was already in the kernel or
> > > > blacklisted.
> > > >         
> > > I guess we should not fail, like in case the module is not compiled
> > > for the current kernel, all should work just fine. In many cases
> > > "depends" will be used to make sure that the module listed as a
> > > dependency will work correctly, and not that the loaded module would
> > > fail if the dependency is not resolved.
> > >
> > >       
> > > > *modprobe* treats each module as if it had been specified on the command
> > > > line. Thus, _modulename_ and any of the dependency names can be aliases
> > > > and the dependencies can have their own *depends* commands. *modprobe*
> > > > will stop if it finds a circular dependency.
> > > >         
> > > Sounds good.
> > >
> > >       
> > > > ------
> > > >
> > > > Comments are very much welcomed. If you know of any useful synonyms for
> > > > "dependency" that'd be neat too. It's not that this text is meant to be
> > > > poetry, but some variety would be nice. :)
> > > >         
> > > Hmm, since we don't really "depend" on another module in most cases,
> > > we might want something like "softdepend", prerequire", "preload"?.
> > >       
>
> I like "softdepend". It leads to the noun "softdep".
> One softdep, several softdeps ...
>
>   
> > > Thanks,
> > > Kay
> > >       
> > pre- something sounds like a good idea.  Because I think we want
> > post-<something> as well.
> >
> > $ cat /etc/modprobe.d/oss-compat
> > install snd-pcm modprobe --ignore-install snd-pcm $CMDLINE_OPTS && {
> > modprobe --quiet snd-pcm-oss ; : ; }
> > ...
> >
> > I don't know if this specific config is sane, but I think it makes
> > sense in general.  snd-pcm-oss is optional, but the idea is that users
> > may be surprised if it is not loaded.  It has to be loaded _after_
> > snd-pcm, because it depends on it.
> >     
>
> How about "pre-requisites" or "prereqs" for the modules that are loaded
> before and either "post-requisites", "postreqs" (which isn't a real word
> unfortunately), or "supplements" for what comes after.
>
> With this vocabulary, the new syntax would look like this:
>
> softdepend modname [ --pre softdep ... ] [ --post softdep ... ]
>
> and your example would be written as
>
> softdepend snd-pcm --post snd-pcm-oss
>   

Sounds good to me.  Maybe it's a little verbose, but we can only spend 
so much time debating names :-).

Thanks
Alan
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