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On 2011-09-27, Michael Orlitzky <michael@××××××××.com> wrote: |
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> On 09/26/11 16:13, Grant Edwards wrote: |
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>> |
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>> That's hilarious. |
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>> |
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>> The Linux developers are _constantly_ changing APIs in ways that break |
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>> existing device driver code. There are repeatedly wholesale |
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>> re-designs of some APIs that happen between minor versions of a |
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>> supposedly "stable" kernel. |
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>> |
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>> We have to touch our NetBSD and FreeBSD drivers maybe once every 3-4 |
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>> years. Often our Linux drivers have to be updated every 3-4 _months_ |
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>> to keep up with changes in the kernel that break things. |
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>> |
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>> I suppose one could try to claim that people who ship Linux drivers |
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>> for their hardware aren't "users" of the kernel, and therefore our |
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>> dealing with such breakage isn't a "user experience". |
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>> |
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> |
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> Contribute your drivers upstream. When the devs change an API, they'll |
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> update your code for you. |
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That sounds good, but in practice it doesn't work. |
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1) The kernel developers don't support any existing customers. Bugs |
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are only fixed for customers who are willing to run the next |
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kernel verison. I've got customers that are still running 2.4 |
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kernels. 2.6.18 is still widely used. Will the kernel developers |
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add new features, support for new hardware, or fix bugs for those |
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customers. Not a chance. |
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2) The kernel developers only make sure that drivers compile. They |
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don't have the hardware or knowlege required to actually test |
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them. One of our drivers _is_ in the kernel. Sure, it builds, |
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but AFAIK, it hasn't actually worked for at least 10 years. |
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Trying to maintain two drivers (one in-kernel and one out-of-kernel) |
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just creates twice as much work for no gain. |
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-- |
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Grant |
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