On Thu, Dec 16, 1999 at 10:53:23PM +0530, Arjun Prabhu K wrote:
> Thanks for the advice Kader bhai. Bahi, If i could write the drivers, Why
> would i write to the list in the first place.
> One more thing. Writing drivers is not a bad idea. LI list members can ...
> Get together and start some project on this (like Linux). Some thing
> usefull. It would be a great contribution to the entire linux community.
Reality check. To write a driver - you need a set of well documented
functions. There is no such thing for Linux. Rubini's book is already
obsolete.
Once you've written a driver, in order for the driver to be useful to
a large number of people, it has to keep up with all the changes happening
in the Linux kernel. In other words, you have to constantly track all
the kernel changes. The only feasible way to do this if you're not
willing to spend 20 hours a week is to have your code in the kernel and
get it fixed by Alan Cox's scripts whenever there is a global change.
The Linux kernel source tar ball will continue to bloat. The current model
is just not going to scale. Insisting on all drivers to be a part of the
kernel is stupid.
See the 'Linux headed for a disaster' thread on linux-india-general. My
personal opinion is that this (not having a Device driver interface)
is a political, rather than a technical decision.
In the long run, if you want lots of obscure hardware to work with your
box, the only way is to get the hardware vendor to write the drivers.
And Linux has some serious political issues which prevents it from happening.
If you want something that is as nice as Linux and which isn't as
stressful to use, you have to find ways of co-existing with the
commercial world. Again, refer to the GPL discussion on linux-india-general
archives.
-Arun
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