Simplifying Linux Driver Installation
prostoalex writes "O'Reilly Network posts an update on Project Utopia that produced Hardware Abstraction Layer for Linux simplifying device changes. They also link to the Driver on Demand project on SourceForge, whose goal is to create a central database to enable Linux desktops download the drivers automatically when the user plugs in her new hardware device."
Hardware Abstraction Layer cos we all know how well that worked in Windows NT
"The dew has clearly fallen with a particularly sickening thud this morning"
Linux community silently "borrows" more and more ideas from there. Make up your fucking mind people, this is getting disgusting.
NetBSD has abstracted from the hardware layer for many years: it has abstract "generic drivers" and metal-specific "glue code".
This helps not just navigate the "device" space - it also makes managing ports to altoghether different architectures easier.
I am quite glad that something similar is cooking for Linux, although perhaps 10 years late.