[PATCH dpdk 3/4] net/tap: use netlink if possible

[Stephen Hemminger]

On Mon, 27 Oct 2025 16:37:54 +0100
Robin Jarry <rjarry at redhat.com> wrote:

> Make netlink socket available unconditionally, not just for rte_flow.
> 
> Use netlink for get/set operations on link flags, MAC, and MTU when
> available. Fall back to ioctl if netlink socket creation fails.
> 
> Signed-off-by: Robin Jarry <rjarry at redhat.com>

Netlink has been available since linux 2.4!
Rather than having two code paths, only one of which gets tested,
better to commit to netlink and use it.

Since dealing with netlink is a nuisance, I wonder if using
libmnl would be better. Yes, it creates new dependency but netlink
handling has been place with lots of Coverity overruns etc.