quoted

Though I do agree that there is a gap: it would be nice to have some
place to submit the kernel patches;

This should be the kernel.  The general rule of thumb I've used is if  
its useful to more than one other person its worth trying to get into  
the kernel.  However, I can see if you are doing a one off kernel for 

That is about the same rule that I use; luckily (a credit to the Linux
kernel and other developers); I don't have to change much stuff like
that.
 

your embedded product that getting your changes into the kernel  
wouldn't be worth while.  You have to have a desire to interact with  
the community if you want to get your code in.

There is a grey zone, but let's talk about a specific case:

In my current queue, I have to write a Host Port Interface (HPI) protocol
(serial) to a TI DSP. I would imagine that this is a useful
contribution. However, using HPI is almost by nature limited to specific
embedded designs (most of which differ slightly from one another).
Furthermore; I will need to use a number of GPIO pins on a 834x
processor. Using this needs to be backed by configuration settings in
U-Boot. If someone else makes a similar design; it would most likely be
with another processor family; and even then; they'll have other pins
connected/used.

Though the protocol would be a real nice addition; the physical
connection/configuration make including it in the main kernel tree
difficult.

Personally, I see it useful if for no other reason that someone will  
fixup my board port if/when they change something which will make my  
moving to a newer kernel release that much easier.

Even though I would welcome this; our boards are included in larger
expensive systems that would just be shipped back in case of problems;
but we've never had functional (linux) problems (yet).

Come to think of it, I have a number of minor patches for 8349SYS based
configurations; where can I find the last devel code (next to 2.6.17)
for patch creation (and to whom to send them back)?

-- 
  greetz, marc
If you must address me, do so as Your Supreme Eminence. Which you
should be doing anyway.
	Rygel - Throne for a Loss
scorpius.homelinux.org 2.6.17 #2 PREEMPT Thu Jun 22 07:18:33 CEST 2006 GNU/Linux