Re: [PATCH] pch_gbe: Use a randomly generated MAC instead of failing probe

On 01/16/2012 08:20 AM, David Laight wrote:

Since multiple interfaces on a single system are unlikely
to be connected to the same LAN segment, it doesn't really
matter if they use same MAC address.

For a long time sun solaris systems used the same MAC
address (based on the system id) on all their ethernet
interfaces.

And there was a perhaps small, but certainly non-trivial stream of 
people asking how to change that because their system(s) were indeed 
multiple ports connected to the same broadcast domain.

Long since then Sun changed their defaults, and we've gotten things like 
bonding, so I think any assumption that a system with multiple ports 
will not have then connected to the same broadcast domain is brittle at 
best.

rick jones