Re: Linux drivers management

[Yaroslav Rastrigin <yarick@it-territory.ru>]

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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