cvs-src summary for January 4-10

[Mark Johnston]

Sorry for the delay, here it is.

FreeBSD cvs-src summary for 2005-01-04 to 2005-01-10
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
This is a regular weekly summary of FreeBSD's cutting-edge development.
It is intended to help the FreeBSD community keep up with the fast-paced
work going on in FreeBSD-CURRENT by distilling the deluge of data from the
CVS mailing list into a (hopefully) easy-to-read newsletter.

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============
New Features
============
Improvements to Synaptics touchpad support
------------------------------------------
Philip Paeps (philip) committed patches from Jason Kuri to the psm[1]
driver, for PS/2 mice.  The patches significantly improve tracking
movement at slow speeds and add support for extra buttons and widgets that
are often added to touchpads.  There are also some new sysctls, under
hw.psm.synaptics, that control the specifics of the slow-speed algorithm
and the effects of the extra buttons.

[1] http://www.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=psm&apropos=0&sektion=4&manpath=FreeBSD+6.0-current&format=html

Submitted by: Jason Kuri
PR: 75725 (http://www.freebsd.org/cgi/query-pr.cgi?pr=75725)

http://www.freebsd.org/cgi/mid.cgi?200501101305.j0AD5w3L073495

IPX/SPX runs without Giant lock
-------------------------------
Robert Watson (rwatson) made numerous commits to the code supporting
IPX/SPX (The low-level protocols used by Novell systems), finishing by
removing the requirement for the Giant system lock to be used.  He notes
that IPX/SPX is not fully safe for Giant-free SMP use, and more work is
still required, but in general it can be used without Giant.

http://www.freebsd.org/cgi/mid.cgi?200501090534.j095Ybo1042972

===============
Notable Changes
===============
wd driver removed
-----------------
Warner Losh (imp) removed the wd driver, which was the IDE disk driver
before ata[1]. wd was being kept around for compatibility with PC98 (An
alternate PC standard designed by NEC and used in Japan).  PC98 is now
working properly with the ata driver, so wd is no longer needed.

[1] http://www.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=ata&apropos=0&sektion=4&manpath=FreeBSD+6.0-current&format=html

http://www.freebsd.org/cgi/mid.cgi?200501040624.j046OXQp086082

matcd driver removed
--------------------
Warner Losh (imp) removed the matcd driver, which supported some old
proprietary CD-ROM drives.  It was not used in the default build and not
working properly.

Submitted by: throdes

http://www.freebsd.org/cgi/mid.cgi?200501100800.j0A80EXs047489

=================
Discussion Topics
=================
Marking unused arguments to main()
----------------------------------
Xin Li (delphij) changed a line of code to use the __unused macro instead
of "void" in the arguments to main(), noting that the change had been
suggested by Jacques Vidrine (nectar).  Maxime Henrion (mux) wondered why
that was, and a few other people commented on their preferences.  After
some discussion and speculation, Jacques explained that he had made the
suggestion since __unused is the canonical FreeBSD way to mark unused
arguments.

http://www.freebsd.org/cgi/mid.cgi?200501042007.j04K7Ch1043130

Tagging licenses contained in source code files
-----------------------------------------------
Warner Losh (imp) updated the style[1] manual page to specify that license
and copyright statements contained within C source code should be tagged
with /*- at the beginning.  Some discussion followed about other uses of
/*-, like controlling automatic formatting of the comment block.  Several
people suggested other ways of identifying copyright statements, but they
were judged either overly elaborate or unreliable.

[1] http://www.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=style&apropos=0&sektion=9&manpath=FreeBSD+6.0-current&format=html

http://www.freebsd.org/cgi/mid.cgi?200501051916.j05JG1iH029185

=================
Committer Changes
=================
Ceri Davies (ceri) is now a src committer, in addition to his existing
documentation commit privileges.  Murray Stokely (murray) will be his
mentor.

http://www.freebsd.org/cgi/mid.cgi?200501060745.j067jtDm082624

Stephan Uphoff (ups) is no longer being mentored.

http://www.freebsd.org/cgi/mid.cgi?200501071946.j07JkbhR059610

===================
Important Bug Fixes
===================
Chance of damage to HD boot sector when booting from media fixed
----------------------------------------------------------------
Peter Edwards (peadar) committed a modified patch from Hans Petter Selasky
for the boot manager.  This patch fixes a bug where, if the bootloader was
run from USB or floppy media, it could overwrite and break the bootloader
on the hard drive.

Submitted by: Hans Petter Selasky
PR: 66248 (http://www.freebsd.org/cgi/query-pr.cgi?pr=66248)

http://www.freebsd.org/cgi/mid.cgi?200501092330.j09NUZUs013213

===============
Other Bug Fixes
===============
Ralf S. Engelschall (rse) fixed the bsdlabel[1] tool so that it can work
with disk devices in subdirectories of /dev.

[1] http://www.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=bsdlabel&apropos=0&sektion=8&manpath=FreeBSD+6.0-current&format=html

http://www.freebsd.org/cgi/mid.cgi?200501071219.j07CJwrM025235

Poul-Henning Kamp (phk) fixed numerous minor bugs in the sis[1] driver,
for Ethernet cards based on SiS and National Semiconductor DP83815
chips.  These chips are commonly found on motherboards and on some Netgear
Ethernet cards.

[1] http://www.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=sis&apropos=0&sektion=4&manpath=FreeBSD+6.0-current&format=html


Julian Elischer (julian) committed a fix from Naoyuki Tai for a bug in
usbd[1], which monitors USB devices attaching and detaching.  The bug
caused usbd to send out only one notification when a hub with multiple
devices connected was plugged in.

[1] http://www.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=usbd&apropos=0&sektion=8&manpath=FreeBSD+6.0-current&format=html

Submitted by: Naoyuki Tai
PR: 43993 (http://www.freebsd.org/cgi/query-pr.cgi?pr=43993)

http://www.freebsd.org/cgi/mid.cgi?200501040645.j046jfSe087032