LWN.net Logo

Not logged in

Log in now

Create an account

Subscribe to LWN

Recent Features

An unexpected perf feature

LWN.net Weekly Edition for May 16, 2013

A look at the PyPy 2.0 release

PostgreSQL 9.3 beta: Federated databases and more

LWN.net Weekly Edition for May 9, 2013

Printable page
Weekly edition Kernel Security Distributions Contact Us Search
Archives Calendar Subscribe Write for LWN LWN.net FAQ Sponsors

Versioned APIs in the kernel?

Versioned APIs in the kernel?

Posted Sep 6, 2007 8:14 UTC (Thu) by khim (subscriber, #9252)
In reply to: Versioned APIs in the kernel? by michaeljt
Parent article: LCE: Linux, hardware vendors, and enterprise distributors

It actually makes their life easier, as they only have to test against one tree, not every enterprise kernel.

Only the guys who produce binary drivers benefit: RedHat guys will still need to backport features, mainstream developers will be forced to keep "compatibility layer" unbroken, etc.

P.S. Do you really think RedHat keeps kernels bug-for-bug compatible in the life of enterprise distribution ? Then you are mistaken: it's not uncommon to require new version of binary drivers after kernel upgrade for RHEL. They only keep old version and backport features because all other components are handled in this way too...

(Log in to post comments)

Copyright © 2013, Eklektix, Inc.
Comments and public postings are copyrighted by their creators.
Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds