From 86dd9696d3a1acb036d65909d93d73455b8aed3a Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Artem Bityutskiy Date: Tue, 19 Feb 2008 14:54:17 +0200 Subject: Revert ubi-tools changes Restore ubi tools to their "original" state, which means to the state they were before I stareted cleaning them up. Instead, create a "new-utils" subdirectory and move my work there. Signed-off-by: Artem Bityutskiy --- ubi-utils/new-utils/README | 56 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 56 insertions(+) create mode 100644 ubi-utils/new-utils/README (limited to 'ubi-utils/new-utils/README') diff --git a/ubi-utils/new-utils/README b/ubi-utils/new-utils/README new file mode 100644 index 0000000..7113b69 --- /dev/null +++ b/ubi-utils/new-utils/README @@ -0,0 +1,56 @@ +This directory contains a new UBI toolchain which is intended to replace +the old one. All the utilities start with "ubi-" to distinguish them from +the old utilities. All support "-h" option which prints sufficient usage +information. See the MTD web-site for more information. + +Motivation for new tool-chain. + +I was doing very active UBI development and had to add new features like +dynamic UBI devices and auto-resize feature. Because of the mess in the +the old tools I basically could not figure out how to upgrade them. In +my humble oppinion, they are unmaintainable. The original authors did not +show enthusiasm when I mailed them and asked to clean-up the tool-chain +[1]. Thus, I re-implemented them, but I did borrow things from the old +tool-chain and preserved copyrights and author names. + +I really did try to clean-up the old tool chain, but gave up (see git +history for confirmation). So, + +1. I found the source codes very difficult to navigate and read, especially + those related to pdd, pfi, and bootenv. Try to do this yourself - they + are a puzzle. +2. I foud the concept of PFI needlesly complecated - PFI file is nothing + else but the initial configuration .ini file + the contents of the + UBI volumes packed into one file, but with some changes of the .ini file's + format. The PFI file format is not very nice and it is difficult to parse, + especially because the PFI headers do not tell you data star and end for + each data chunk, and you have to do additional parsing. + + So basically, you have .ini file + images, then you transfer this to pfi, + which does not add any other information. For .ini you have libraries + which may parse them, for pfi - not. Then you have to parse this pfi + which adds unneeded and complex code. This all needs lists, hashmaps, + and so on - for no reason. +3. I found the command line options of the utilities to be inconsistent. + This is OK when you script your single task and do not touch it anymore. + But when you have to use the utilities while developing and testing, + It is difficult to remember their inconsistent options. +4. I found it wrong to add development options to user utilities like + "broken update". End users should not see them. +5. I did not find any consistent style and convention inside which + irritated me. +6. I found it weird to introduce needless "logging infrastructure" instead + of just re-directing stdout and stderr to another file. +7. I found the tool to be rather IBM-setup oriented. For example, the VID + header position was hard-coded. Some utilities were just weird, like + mkbootenv, which changed some ethernet addresses mentioned in a + configuration file. +8. Finally, it was very difficult to realize what is pfi and pdd, what for, + why I need this transiant pfi file when I just want to create an UBI + image. There was zero documentation. + +And so on. + +Feb 19, 2008, Artem Bityutskiy. + +[1]. http://lists.infradead.org/pipermail/linux-mtd/2007-December/020134.html -- cgit v1.2.3