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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."
Games.
Get a Knoppix or LiveCD disc. You'll be amazed at how good Linux driver support is. Chances are that everything you got on your machine will just work, without you having to install anything manually.
Oh well, what the hell...
Say you have a function, foo, and it takes three integer arguments. So, here's your theoretical function:Now, say all of a sudden, you decide that the variable d in foo should be passed in (maybe d being 42 is correct for all but one variant of hardware device). At this point, you have two options:
1. Update function foo to include support for parameter d:This breaks the binary compatibility (well, and source for that matter). Probably you'd see segmentation faults/invalid memory accesses, etc.
2. Create a new function (say, foo2) that includes support for d, and maintains backwards compatibility:Then, update foo as such:Existing drivers don't see that foo has changed, and new drivers needing the extra parameter can use foo2. Binary (and source) compatibility is retained, but it becomes a major pain in the butt for the developers. Imagine several of these changes happening, and you (possibly) end up with foo2 through foo15.
Quite frankly, I can see why Linus doesn't want to do it, for both technical and the ideals behind it. Personally, I believe it's the ideals that he favors, rather than the technical side of it. That said, on the x86, maintaining this might not be so bad, but maybe on other platforms it is more difficult. Back when software was typically written in assembly (my favorite example that comes to mind is GEOS on the Commodore 64, it had a huge API, which retained backwards compatibility with older versions), not only did you have to make sure that the parameters passed in were the same (usually on the stack, or registers, or inline), but you also had to make sure that the entry-point addresses stayed the same too (most often accomplished via a jump table).
-- Joe
Winboys complain that Linboys say Windows crashes. In 1998, it did. (Incidentally, it still does now. Admittedly, less often, but the only reason you never see it on XP is that it automatically reboots, rather than sitting there with the BSOD.)
Yet, the Winboys continually complain about problems with Linux that were solved in 2000 or earlier.
There are plenty of Linux-only games available, and lots of the good ones that use OpenGL, rather than DirectX crap, have Linux ports. If a developer uses a platform-specific 3D API, then refuses to do a Linux port because it would be essentially a complete rewrite to use a platform-independent 3D API, that they could have used in the first place.....it's not Linux's fault. Blame the developer, for being short-sighted and stupid.
Again, 1998 problem. Get yourself up to date, and see my answer to number 1.
KPackage, Synaptic, YaST, and many other package managers will install just about anything on most distros. Sure, there's the odd one that doesn't work, but you run across that with Windows, too. Ever try installing Norton Anti-Virus 2001 on Windows XP? Both released in the same year, but they're incompatible.
One more thing...if you'd been using Konqueror to post your message, it would have let you know that you spelled 'application' incorrectly. Nice to see IE being so innovative.....NOT! Notepad, Wordpad, DOSedit, TextPad, Boxer, Zeus, GWD Text Editor, EditPlus.....
All text editors for Windows. And the first three come bundled - and installed by default - with Windows XP.
Like what? Windows Update? I have yet to run across any website that doesn't work with anything other than IE, with the exception of Panda Software's Activescan. Unfortunately, it's ActiveX only. Again, not the fault of Linux, but the fault of a poor programmer who used a platform-specific technology to provide a function that could be provided with a platform-independent technology. Trend's housecall, however, works with Java, so will run on just about anything.
Wireless networking randomly popping up and down. Unrecognized hardware being completely ignored and hidden during install, rather than warning the user. Running any old twit as admin by default.
All examples of lack of polish and foresight in Windows.
Can't find enough arguments, so you need to repeat yourself? Not only that, but you chose to repeat the arguments that aren't valid, as the problem was solved years ago.
I know I'm not supposed to respond to trolls, but they're just so fun to shred into tiny little pieces.....
"City hall" in German is "Rathaus" Kinda explains a few things......
Its not borrowing ideas at all... Alot of things MS does are just simple steps, but the trick is they generally implement them in the poor and easy way, instead of the proper way. The truth is that Linux has had the equivilent of Microsofts Plug and play system for a very long time. All their system is, is a bunch of modules, we do exactly the same thing, the difference is that since people dont notice it because distro's have most fo the drivers included, so you dont notice them existing.
Also, Microsoft charges for getting drivers digitally signed to get on their database, and I severely doubt many are of decent quality (I know the nvidia ones they have are useless). Its easy to code somethign when you charge for addition to the database, because its just like any other database.. But to do full, dynamic driver management where you can get drivers that dont even exist on your system, thats what MS is NOT able to do. In fact, because they put poor drivers in their database, I'd say you get driver upgrade warnings which wipe out your already working drivers and replace them with poor copies.. Evidence of poor design.
Either way. I dont believe either HAL or Driver on demand is really a clone, but then again, I am the author of Driver on Demand, and I'm biased. The focus in recent times for driver on demand has been to create a driver search engine anyway first.
Ok...Debian stable. That's your problem, right there. Debian stable consists of software that's roughly 2-3 years old, at least. It still uses KDE 2.something, if I remember rightly.
n ce.pdf, which covers all sorts of stuff like you need to update it. Look at the section titled "Upgrading a distribution", especially section 5.1, which covers how to select which release you want to install.
There's a Debian administration guide available at http://cdrom.gnutemberg.org/manuali/debian/refere
As far as recent games for Linux....well, I don't play recent games for Windows, either, so I couldn't really tell you for sure. There is, however, a Doom 3 Linux release either coming very soon, or already available. Google for "Doom 3 for linux", and see for yourself.
"City hall" in German is "Rathaus" Kinda explains a few things......
The MLA is definitely not full of shit. The English language has no official group responsible for changes to the language (in the sense that L'Academie Francaise operates). Many of the rules and placements in the language are actually quite logical, and many of the older rules (the rule against double negatives, for example) are based on mathematical concepts.
/.er would appreciate the fact that a set structure for bibliographis or works cited allows for much easier machine parsing of that information. While this was not the original reason for the rules, it is a very pleasant by-product of them.
The purpose of grammar is very similar to the purpose of spelling; a common standard allows for the quickest reading and comprehension possible. While your solution is certainly fine for colloquial speech, it has no place in print (epecially the original case, a semi-official form being posted on a website with readership in the millions). Ignoring the obvious jokes about slashdot and spelling/grammar, phrases that use a plural pronoun to refer to a singular antecedent are unnecessarily confusing for non-native speakers.
As for the citations, I would expect that a