Ask Linux users what they find most annoying about Linux, and many will complain about device drivers — while the vast majority of PC components and peripherals work with Linux, some don't work at all, and others are marginal. A leading Linux kernel developer has proposed a solution, Linux-Watch.com reports.

In a recent blog and email posting, kernel hacker Greg Kroah-Hartman wrote, “The Linux kernel community is offering all companies free Linux driver development. No longer do you have to suffer through all of the different examples in the Linux Device Driver Kit, or pick through the thousands of example drivers in the Linux kernel source tree trying to determine which one is the closest to what you need to do.”

That's a significant point, notes Linux-Watch.com editor Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols. While many hardware vendors don't want to open up their devices APIs (application programming interfaces) and ABIs (application binary interfaces) to the open-source community, it's often not because they have any real secret ingredient. No, it's just that they don't want a device driver out there that they haven't had a hand in making, and they also don't have the cash on hand to build it themselves. By enabling the equipment vendor to have some say in the matter, while not costing them a thin dime, Kroah-Hartman hopes that the hardware companies will work with open source developers.

Read the complete Linux-Watch.com story here:

 
This article was originally published on LinuxDevices.com and has been donated to the open source community by QuinStreet Inc. Please visit LinuxToday.com for up-to-date news and articles about Linux and open source.