Kent Loobey wrote:
> Actually I really wanted to know how compatible different versions of Linux
> are. As in, if I have old hardware and get the source for a driver, will I
> be able to keep it working into the future. Or are the drivers for Red
> Hat, Debian, and Mandrake so different that one would really have to
> rewrite the driver from scratch for each one of them. I would guess that
> Linux 2.2... would take the same drivers no matter who did the
> distribution. I just thought I would check before I cast that assumption
> into stone.
If you're talking about a device driver, than Seth's comments
are true -- if you have source, you should be able to just
recompile it within the same kernel generation (2.0, 2.2, 2.4...).
But you mentioned a video card driver. Those aren't kernel device
drivers, they're part of XFree86. There, you're more likely to have
versionitis -- XFree86 is currently transitioning from 3.x to 4.0.
My video card on jogger-egg is an unillustrious Number Nine. The
model is Ticket to Ride version 4 or something -- I wasn't able to
make it work with the I128 X server from XFree86 3.3.5, so I have the
3.2.2 version of the X server, and a newer rev of the rest of XFree86
(still 3.x, though). It all works together fine -- the X protocol has
been stable for 10 years.
The reason I use this unillustrious card is that it's the only one
that has the digital interface that the Silicon Graphics 1600SW flat
panel uses. The flat panel is very nice, but the card sucks.
Last night, though, my flat panel was flickering again. Maybe I'm
about to go shopping for a new monitor and card soon. :-(
--
K<bob>
[EMAIL PROTECTED], http://www.jogger-egg.com/
