Here's an update on the Linux Driver Project. "The Linux Driver Project is alive and well, with over 300 developers wanting to participate, many drivers already written and accepted into the Linux kernel tree, and many more being currently developed. The main problem is a lack of projects. It turns out that there really isn't much hardware that Linux doesn't already support. Almost all new hardware produced is coming with a Linux driver already written by the company, or by the community with help from the company. There are two main classes of hardware, video input devices and wireless network cards, that is not well supported by Linux, but large efforts are already underway to resolve this issue, with the wireless driver issue pretty much taken care of already, however there are a few notable exceptions. Because of this, our main effort has turned into one of education. Educating vendors of how to become members of the Linux kernel community, proper coding standards and procedures, and how to get their code into the kernel tree."
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Member since:2005-11-11
"Typical Linux (et al in OSS) thinking."
Ridiculous. This is a typical arrogant "all developers are demons that must be killed" kind of arrogant comment that seems to plague the Linux world these days.
Suppose you are a car radio manufacturer. I come to you to complain that my car lights are broken.
Me: "My car is broken. Fix it."
You: "The problem is not in the radio. We're only specialized in car radios. You should see a car mechanic if you want your lights fixed."
Me: "Typical 'car people' (et all) thinking! As a driver I don't care whether the problem is in the radio or the lights! Fix it!"
Riiiight. Your comment is like flaming the plumber that he doesn't fix your television.
There is a difference between kernel developers and userland developers, whether you like it or not. It doesn't matter what you say about end users "not caring", it doesn't make the difference go away, nor should the difference go away because if it does, chaos will ensue.
These people are kernel developers who try to help you with their expertise. Their expertise do not lie in userland. Just because you don't understand the difference doesn't mean you have any right to blame them for not being the people responsible for fixing your problems.
Member since:2005-07-21
...
There is a difference between kernel developers and userland developers... It doesn't matter what you say about end users "not caring", it doesn't make the difference go away
I am a developer, I hear these kinds of things from users too. It's not just Linux, but users in general and a practical truth. Have you never received an issue filed against the UI for not showing certain class of products when they haven't even been entered into the database? The correct business* response is to solve the problem not reply "Oh that's not my job."
Users don't care where the issue is, they care that it exists at all. A user really doesn't care where the issue is.
E.G. If there was a bug in Windows that made Firefox ( unusable even if it was coded against the proper of the behaviour of the API users won't use it. Sure the Firefox developers can say that its not their job... but in that case people won't switch from IE.
The fact that the user said "driver" is immaterial, what they mean is that their hardware is not supported, nor does a user want to shop around for specific hardware that is supported.
* While Linux is not a business per se, if it wants desktop share it needs to behave as one.
Edited 2008-04-08 22:21 UTC
Member since:
2005-07-21
Typical Linux (et al in OSS) thinking. As an end-user I don't care if the problem is in the kernel, the library, or the application. True that as a technical person I can appreciated the differences. When it comes to being a user, it comes down to the question "Can I get similar functionality I had in Windows?" Heck, even if the library did support my scanner, AFAIK, there is no decent application for KDE 4 for scanning with it! Sorry but people need to realise that hardware support means the full stack. Until it is complete, I'll keep XP installed on my machine and I actually hesitate about booting into Linux* since I might need to scan something and I hate rebooting.
* Though I much prefer it.