Messages in this thread | | | Subject | 3rd party drivers: Was Re: Kernel Geeks Unite? | Date | Wed, 10 Sep 1997 12:54:55 +0800 | From | Stephen Williams <> |
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root@jennifer-unix.dyn.ml.org said: > It would be wonderful if device makers would include linux drivers, > but it ain't gonna happen anytime soon.
Not so. Picture Elements delivers linux drivers with our boards, as modules. However, we distribute them as source and the installation is a little bit harder then it needs to be.
Some problems that I encounter are:
- Kernel symbol versioning is too strict. (Not having some form of versioning is too lax.) Type-safe linking of modules (a la C++)would be very helpful indeed, and pretty darn nifty.
- A documented DDI would be nice. The system call interface is for the applications, the DDI interface for modules. This would allow drivers to survive versions better.
- Major number assignment. Seems like the assignment of major numbers should be a local problem, not a global one. Might I suggest that a range of numbers be set aside as "locally assigned" and let kerneld straighten it out. If the module always takes major_number=<foo> and I can set up the aliases in kerneld config files, major number assignment problems will go away. (Mass market devices can continue to use preassigned numbers.)
Yes, I will continue to ship driver source, but it would be nice to be able to include precompiled binaries, and install the driver with a few simple commands.
Incidentally, there is a man9 project for keeping ddi man pages. We have a plausible set available at: <http://www.muppetlabs.com/~kirk/man9/>. -- Steve Williams steve@icarus.com steve@picturel.com
"The woods are lovely, dark and deep. But I have promises to keep, And lines to code before I sleep, And lines to code before I sleep."
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