Jeff Garzik wrote:"NETIF_MSG_" is silly and should be eliminated.
From this, I infer that you think that the option to "omit" the msglevel arg --e.g.,
netdev_err(dev,, "NIC is fried!\n"); /* always logged */
-- is silly. No big deal. Its sole purpose is to help keep netdev_* calls terse.
A separate "NETIF_MSG_ALL" test is not needed, because msg_enable is a
bitmask. A msg_enable of 0xffffffff will naturally create a NETIF_MSG_ALL.
But how do you code a netdev_* call where you ALWAYS want the message (including
netdev_printk-style prefix) logged, regardless of the value of msg_enable? That's
what NETIF_MSG_ALL is for (and why it might be better called NETIF_MSG_ALWAYS)...
Also, whatever mechanism is created, it needs to preserve the feature of
the existing system:
if (a quick bitmask test)
do something
And preferably "do something" is not inlined, because printk'ing --
although it may appear in a fast path during debugging -- cannot be
considered a fast path itself.
Sorry, I'm not sure what you're getting at here. netdev_* doesn't prevent
people from using the existing netif_msg_* macros; it just provides shorthand
for the (usual) case where "do something" is "printk".