xref: /src/doc/TODO.modules

/* $NetBSD: TODO.modules,v 1.5 2016/08/06 00:30:57 pgoyette Exp $ */

Some notes on the limitations of our current (as of 7.99.35) module
subsystem.  This list was triggered by an Email exchange between
christos and pgoyette.

1. Builtin drivers can't depend on modularized drivers (the modularized
   drivers are attempted to load as builtins).

	The assumption is that dependencies are loaded before those
	modules which depend on them.  At load time, a module's
	undefined global symbols are resolved;  if any symbols can't
	be resolved, the load fails.  Similarly, if a module is
	included in (built-into) the kernel, all of its symbols must
	be resolvable by the linker, otherwise the link fails.

	There are ways around this (such as, having the parent
	module's initialization command recursively call the module
	load code), but they're often gross hacks.

	Another alternative (which is used by ppp) is to provide a
	"registration" mechanism for the "child" modules, and then when
	the need for a specific child module is encountered, use
	module_autoload() to load the child module.  Of course, this
	requires that the parent module know about all potentially
	loadable children.

2. Currently, config(1) has no way to "no define" drivers

3. It is not always obvious by their names which drivers/options
   correspond to which modules.

4. Right now critical drivers that would need to be pre-loaded (ffs,
   exec_elf64) are still built-in so that we don't need to alter the boot
   blocks to boot.

	This was a conscious decision by core@ some years ago.  It is
	not a requirement that ffs or exec_* be built-in.  The only
	requirement is that the root file-system's module must be
	available when the module subsystem is initialized, in order
	to load other modules.  This can be accomplished by having the
	boot loader "push" the module at boot time.  (It used to do
	this in all cases; currently the "push" only occurs if the
	booted filesystem is not ffs.)

5. Not all parent bus drivers are capable of rescan, so some drivers
   just have to be built-in.

6. Many (most?) drivers are not yet modularized

7. There's currently no provisions for autoconfig to figure out which
   modules are needed, and thus to load the required modules.

	In the "normal" built-in world, autoconfigure can only ask
	existing drivers if they're willing to manage (ie, attach) a
	device.  Removing the built-in drivers tends to limit the
	availability of possible managers.  There's currently no
	mechanism for identifying and loading drivers based on what
	devices might be found.

8. Even for existing modules, there are "surprise" dependencies with
   code that has not yet been modularized.

	For example, even though the bpf code has been modularized,
	there is some shared code in bpf_filter.c which is needed by
	both ipfilter and ppp.  ipf is already modularized, but ppp
	is not.  Thus, even though bpf_filter is modular, it MUST be
	included as a built-in module if you also have ppp in your
	configuration.

	Another example is sysmon_taskq module.  It is required by
	other parts of the sysmon subsystem, including the
	"sysmon_power" module.  Unfortunately, even though the
	sysmon_power code is modularized, it is referenced by the
	acpi code which has not been modularized.  Therefore, if your
	configuration has acpi, then you must include the "sysmon_power"
	module built-in the kernel.  And therefore your also need to
	have "sysmon_taskq" and "sysmon" built-in since "sysmon_power"
	rerefences them.

9. As a corollary to #8 above, having dependencies on modules from code
   which has not been modularized makes it extremely difficult to test
   the module code adequately.  Testing of module code should include
   both testing-as-a-built-in module and testing-as-a-loaded-module, and
   all dependencies need to be identified.