Linux self-sabotage

Message ID: 357492

Posted By: deepdistrust

Subject: Linux self-sabotage

"Although the Linux kernel is an impressive and stable feat of distributed engineering, the incompatibility between different stable point versions of the kernel hampers the Driver on Demand concept. You could compile a driver for 2.6.5 and it would probably not work on 2.6.10 if you simply loaded the precompiled binary module; you would need to recompile the driver for each kernel version.

This problem worsens when you consider furnishing a driver for all distributions. Not only do you have the official 2.6 tree to consider, but you also have the slight modifications that different distributions add to the kernels. If you want to distribute a precompiled binary driver, you'll need to provide a binary for each point version in the kernel for each distribution. This can amount to HUNDREDS OF MODULES FOR A SINGLE STABLE KERNEL RELEASE.

The reason a single binary driver will not work across a kernel series is the lack of internal API and ABI (application binary interface) compatibility in the kernel. "

[emphasis mine]

Summary: the Nuts can't stop changing things!

How exactly is Microsoft sabotaging Linux, again?

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