Linux's Latest Plan For Removing Old WiFi Drivers

[sobkas]

I was always wondering how secure such old drivers and hardware is...

[kpedersen]

Old kernels don't suddenly disappear just because newer ones remove a driver.

And neither does BSD as an alternative. Drivers tend to be maintained longer in those operating systems.

In all fairness, its a good trade-off. They take longer to get in in the first place (and some never do); but they are often done in such a way (i.e better docs, less commercial vendor code) that maintenance can be more straight forward.

Slow and steady wins the race!

[elbar]

BSD alternatives, together with Hurd, was an idea that everyone would be happy to do something that hardware vendors should do and if they won't, then it is their will to do so. But also it is in the possibility of offering of Linux (independent) contributors to make a Offer to such vendors that with Acknowledge and Agreement such company will do such hardware drivers and if such thing will not be so much costly, it would make a healthier breath for more corporate development for their preferred platform with maybe feedback that something is maybe broken and need more special treatment. There even may be specialized companies which could do this thing on a regular basis and even do more for linux community because there are already such people doing it for living...

But with bigger corporations there is also a possibility to do also some thinking that some drivers needs to do things that hardware is not required or vice versa or some hardware architecture is not prepared for disclosure, but hardware driver for Linux is therefore something missing and maybe for consoles not or such architecture has some operating standard that requires some user space libraries to operate with and kernel could be only transmission for user space libs when event occur or not required to do complex kernel thinking with wide and huge ever changing kernel structures(and learn them, program them and hardware support them)...

Once Upon a Time there was serial port with only something send and receive. If user space libs according some policy which could be enforced into such hardware interface(withouth kernel operation) based upon some user space policy like if injecting Blu-ray disc send play/stop/select track/something supported to only via direct cable to GPU, then maybe it could be played especially when such cable with direct connection to GPU is withouth CPU thinking... But today's Linux has no interest in playback of encrypted disc and more importantly to CREATE encrypted Blu-ray discs for those which could make a living for such things...

Todays understanding is that online movies, clips and something is more handy and convenient, easier and a more error-prone due hardware disc failures. But that could be only a matter of missing corporations in this space because Steve Jobs is dead and no one is interested on this bullshits of missing huge market CD disc opportunity when playing audio CD in phone is probably bad idea covered under Sony patents, but without local singers in this phone entertainment business

[Antennae5101]

BSD alternatives, together with Hurd, was an idea that everyone would be happy to do something that hardware vendors should do and if they won't, then it is their will to do so. But also it is in the possibility of offering of Linux (independent) contributors to make a Offer to such vendors that with Acknowledge and Agreement such company will do such hardware drivers and if such thing will not be so much costly, it would make a healthier breath for more corporate development for their preferred platform with maybe feedback that something is maybe broken and need more special treatment. There even may be specialized companies which could do this thing on a regular basis and even do more for linux community because there are already such people doing it for living...

But with bigger corporations there is also a possibility to do also some thinking that some drivers needs to do things that hardware is not required or vice versa or some hardware architecture is not prepared for disclosure, but hardware driver for Linux is therefore something missing and maybe for consoles not or such architecture has some operating standard that requires some user space libraries to operate with and kernel could be only transmission for user space libs when event occur or not required to do complex kernel thinking with wide and huge ever changing kernel structures(and learn them, program them and hardware support them)...

Once Upon a Time there was serial port with only something send and receive. If user space libs according some policy which could be enforced into such hardware interface(withouth kernel operation) based upon some user space policy like if injecting Blu-ray disc send play/stop/select track/something supported to only via direct cable to GPU, then maybe it could be played especially when such cable with direct connection to GPU is withouth CPU thinking... But today's Linux has no interest in playback of encrypted disc and more importantly to CREATE encrypted Blu-ray discs for those which could make a living for such things...

Todays understanding is that online movies, clips and something is more handy and convenient, easier and a more error-prone due hardware disc failures. But that could be only a matter of missing corporations in this space because Steve Jobs is dead and no one is interested on this bullshits of missing huge market CD disc opportunity when playing audio CD in phone is probably bad idea covered under Sony patents, but without local singers in this phone entertainment business

https://www.grammarly.com/readability

[NovenTheHero]

I think it would be cool to go through all kernel major versions and bringing back all stuff that was dropped into a new kernel and compile that. I wonder how big it would be, or if it would even work.

If something is dropped it could just be un-dropped right?

[ayumu]

Imagine if Linux had driver APIs.

[NovenTheHero]

For real though, is it possible to go back and re-add all the dropped drivers for various devices and put them back into the kernel, supported or not?