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ELC: The embedded Linux nightmareELC: The embedded Linux nightmarePosted Apr 20, 2007 14:54 UTC (Fri) by sepreece (subscriber, #19270)In reply to: ELC: The embedded Linux nightmare by net_bh Parent article: ELC: The embedded Linux nightmare
"In my experience, there is usually a product line, a few products on a common platform and most drivers can be carried forward across the product line with few changes."
Yes, but the OS version used for the platform is typically not changed over the life of the product line (or changed only at very long intervals), so there's usually no need to maintain the drivers over that period except for hardware or feature tweaks, which would have to be done separately anyway.
That said, it would make sense to push the drivers to mainstream anyway, for the usual benefit of community review. The problem in doing that is that by the time the first product is ready to ship the kernel version is not current and bringing the drivers up to current would be added work that would be hard to justify just by the possibility of finding bugs that haven't already manifested. [In many cases the drivers can't be posted prior to shipment because they would expose product details that we want to keep secret as long as possible for competitive reasons.]
I think we're going to get better at this, over time, but it's a learning process. Thomas's advice was useful; I just thought his talk was a little one-sided.
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