On 05/25/2010 04:14 AM, Avi Kivity wrote:
On 05/24/2010 10:38 PM, Anthony Liguori wrote:
- Building a plugin API seems a bit simpler to me, although I'm to
sure if I'd get the
idea correctly:
The block layer has already some kind of api (.bdrv_file_open,
.bdrv_read). We
could simply compile the block-drivers as shared objects and
create a method
for loading the necessary modules at runtime.
That approach would be a recipe for disaster. We would have to
introduce a new, reduced functionality block API that was supported
for plugins. Otherwise, the only way a plugin could keep up with our
API changes would be if it was in tree which defeats the purpose of
having plugins.
We could guarantee API/ABI stability in a stable branch but not across
releases.
We have releases every six months. There would be tons of block plugins
that didn't work for random sets of releases. That creates a lot of
user confusion and unhappiness.
Regards,
Anthony Liguori
