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Improving Linux Driver Installation (O'ReillyNet)Improving Linux Driver Installation (O'ReillyNet)Posted Sep 11, 2004 2:27 UTC (Sat) by zone (guest, #3633)Parent article: Improving Linux Driver Installation (O'ReillyNet)
A well written and researched article, but the premise is fluff.
"The goal of Driver on Demand is that the user should be able to plug in a device and the software will then check whether a device driver module is present. If not, it will download the relevant driver from a secure Internet site and insert it into the kernel."
Correct. The secure Internet site here is the distributor's update server. If a distributor can't offer a comprehensive update mechanism that includes support for the latest hardware, then they don't deserve to be used.
The distributions have a ways to go toward user-friendliness in this area, and there does need to be more distributor coordination with getting out-of-tree drivers into a condition where they can be moved in-tree, but talk about stable APIs/ABIs and universal binary compatibility is not poignant.
"It shouldn't be completely unexpected that in the future, drivers for devices will come on CDs, and at the very least, users will want to be able to just double-click the driver to install it.."
Hardware sits on store shelves for years and with the ubiquity of the Internet and the pace of Open Source development, there is no reason to install a crusty driver off of a CD when you could use the latest version provided by your distributor.
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Improving Linux Driver Installation (O'ReillyNet) Posted Sep 11, 2004 22:46 UTC (Sat) by gvy (guest, #11981) [Link] Man, have you ever actually tried *automatically* updating kernels?
Please come back with your docs in flying colors if it's so.
I've been running ALT Linux with apt-get in cron(8) on my servers for years, but sorry -- Linux kernel still requires some special handling these days.
As of "additional hardware support modules" -- it's just plain the same if your particular module is inside monolithic kernel package even if it's modular: you have to fiddle with kernel image and a bootloader. It's *not* automatable to the degree of reacting on some device being plugged in.
E.g. I have these on my system:
kernel-image-std-up-2.4.26-alt6
I can add some madwifi or ltmodem driver by simple apt call, and it could probably even get automated with updates.
But letting the system to go somewhere "just in case"? No thanks, it's called "minor updates" or "last release" and involves some decision-making on behalf of system's owner.
I wouldn't like my printer to go out on a limb to its respective manufacturer to order me some cartridges "just in case" because it "feels" the installed one would get empty while the new one arrives. (heck, if any braindead company actually tries to do that, here's your prior art to feed 'em :)
Improving Linux Driver Installation (O'ReillyNet) Posted Sep 16, 2004 12:25 UTC (Thu) by evgeny (subscriber, #774) [Link] I wouldn't like my printer to go out on a limb to its respective manufacturer to order me some cartridges "just in case" because it "feels" the installed one would get empty while the new one arrives. (heck, if any braindead company actually tries to do that, here's your prior art to feed 'em :)Too late. Xerox's CentreWare IS has been doing this (though not by default ;-)) for a while.
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