Re: [PATCH 6/6] async_tx: Mark as Deprecated in Kconfig

[Eric Biggers]

On Wed, Oct 14, 2026 at 03:43:50PM -0400, Frank.Li@xxxxxxxxxxx wrote:
> From: Frank Li <Frank.Li@xxxxxxx>
> 
> The async_tx framework was introduced to support asynchronous RAID
> memory operations and DMA offload engines that were common at the time.
> Today, adoption is limited, most clients use DMAEngine interfaces
> directly, and the framework's dependency-chaining and software fallback
> features provide little value for new users.
> 
> Maintaining async_tx adds an extra abstraction layer and ongoing
> maintenance burden while serving a shrinking set of users. Deprecate the
> framework and discourage new users in favor of direct DMAEngine APIs.
> 
> Signed-off-by: Frank Li <Frank.Li@xxxxxxx>
> ---
>  crypto/async_tx/Kconfig | 2 +-
>  1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-)
> 
> diff --git a/crypto/async_tx/Kconfig b/crypto/async_tx/Kconfig
> index 89bafa2efc300..02d472fc7a476 100644
> --- a/crypto/async_tx/Kconfig
> +++ b/crypto/async_tx/Kconfig
> @@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
>  # SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0
>  config ASYNC_CORE
> -	tristate
> +	tristate "Async tx core (DEPRECATED)"

If possible we should just remove async_tx entirely
(https://lore.kernel.org/linux-crypto/20261015-asycn_tx_remove-v1-0-056a7085e0a1@xxxxxxx/)
as your other series does.  Adding the prompt here actually does the
opposite of deprecating it: it starts asking people to unnecessarily
enable it, while doing nothing to make it easier to disable.

- Eric