Hi,
>
> I heartily agree with this!!
>
> I use two products that use out-of-tree drivers. VMWare and NVidia cards.
> Fortunately, the build processes for both are rather painless, but there have
> been times when it has *not* been, and it was extremely frustrating. I
> remember when VMWare was not doing a good job of supporting 2.6 kernels and I
> spent the better part of two days trying to track down a solution. I finally
> did, but it was a third party, non-VMWare, patch to the VMWare code that
> fixed it so it would compile and run. That's not what I consider convenience
> for the non-technical user. A non-technical user would not have been able to
> do what I did, especially when they just want their software to work.
And then think, why do you need to _build_ drivers in the first place.
Wouldn't it be better to have one vmware.ko which insmod's with all 2.6 versions , from 2.6.0 to 2.6.16-rc2 ,
and throw "upgrade pain" away completely ?
>
> I want to install my machine and have everything work. Don't make me chase
> all over the net trying to find a driver for my hardware. If it's a network
All over the net ? Again, you're proving stable API/ABI supporters nicely.
If kernel has stable ABI, basic/default driver is included on installation CD, and all you need to do
is to launch ./install-linux.sh from CD in your shell or click OK and enter your root password in GUI box.
Newer/better driver - just go to device manufacturer's website, download installation package and install this driver.
Without rebuilding.
> (i.e. ethernet device) the driver had *better* be in the tree. Trying to
> download the driver to another computer, transferring, etc, is enough to make
> me find another brand of network card.
And what to do if you've bought new hardware, installed it and _voila_ - NO IN-TREE DRIVER exists ?
Do you want every Linux user going for shopping to nearest WalMart carry full linux hardware compatibility list printed out ?
Or intree driver list ?
> Latest kernel == latest driver. No need for me to try to keep all my drivers
> up to date.
Wrong. Latest kernel is latest kernel. Latest driver is latest driver. They are different entities, and don't mix'em.
>
> I sometimes delay kernel updates because I don't want to mess with updating my
> NVidia and VMWare drivers. This is *not* good for security.
So who to blame ? Maybe, just look at those who don't want stable driver API ?
> So I did. Please put your driver in the tree. It will be better for all
> concerned.
Please, don't force your preferences over others'
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