Stable API

Posted Oct 22, 2006 10:21 UTC (Sun) by Duncan (guest, #6647) [Link]

You favorite distribution is 4 month old. You [look at buying] new
hardware with [a] brand new network card whose driver wasn't included in
you distro's kernel (the network card did not exist at that time)[, but
you realize that fact, and look for something that will work for you
because you've verified it's supported, perhaps a bit older hardware].
Even if there's an in tree driver in the latest kernel (which your distro
does not have yet) [for the new hardware you passed over], you [are not]
stuck because you [did the research and know your kernel supports the
hardware you /did/ choose, well].

Linux doesn't have the market share of that unfree OS. It's a hard fact
at this time (tho not so much in the server space) altho things are
gradually changing. Part of adjusting to live with that is either
learning to do your research, picking carefully what you buy, or living
with the consequences for failing to do so. Of course, one possible
chosen consequence would be simply caving in and going back to that unfree
OS, and not having to worry about it, but losing all the other things you
chose freedomware/Linux for (including freedom from the various driver
bugs plaguing the closed source world, that aren't a priority for the
manufacturer to fix as they've moved on, and are extremely difficult for
anyone else to fix as they don't have the code).

Once you recognize that and do the research /before/ you buy, buying with
the results of that research in mind, things are MUCH easier. Take it
from someone who was actually doing that research for all his hardware
from two years before certain eXPrivacy and remote-root-priv policies of
that unfree OS finally forced him to make the jump. I was prepared for
it, and everything "just worked" when I switched, at least once I figured
out how freedomware/Linux worked with it in general, because I hadn't been
buying anything that wouldn't work with freedomware/Linux for two years.

Duncan