Abstract

Vendors of modern networking hardware realize that the devices they provide require a great deal of software in order to function effectively. As a result, many hardware vendors provide large amounts of software for use with their devices. However, the prevalent use of the VxWorks operating system has allowed hardware vendors to become careless with the architecture of the driver… software they provide. Often the driver software provided by hardware vendors is difficult to use in a protected environment like Linux. This paper begins by discussing strategies for making use of such drivers in a Linux environment, and continues by discussing how hardware vendors might architect Linux-friendly driver software. Finally, the paper discusses how vendors can provide first-class Linux support for their hardware and why it is in their best interest to do so. This paper is a must read both for system integrators new to Linux and for driver software architects unfamiliar with the Linux environment.

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