Gigabyte AORUS Waterforce Driver Merged For Linux 6.8

[phoronix]

Phoronix: Gigabyte AORUS Waterforce Driver Merged For Linux 6.8

Merged last week to the mainline kernel were all of the hardware monitoring "HWMON" subsystem driver updates for the Linux 6.8 cycle, which includes introducing the Gigabyte AORUS Waterforce AIO driver...

https://www.phoronix.com/news/Linux-6.8-HWMON

[ddriver]

I wonder, what's the technical benefits of having a driver for a particular model of cooled at kernel level? Why does this need to be in the kernel? Cramming each and every thing in there ... doesn't that like... defeat the purpose of "kernel".

[LtdJorge]

I wonder, what's the technical benefits of having a driver for a particular model of cooled at kernel level? Why does this need to be in the kernel? Cramming each and every thing in there ... doesn't that like... defeat the purpose of "kernel".

It can be disabled at compile time, or made into a module and loaded on demand. The more drivers the kernel has, the more normal users benefit, since those tend to run mainstream distros with as many compatibility options as possible, so the system "just works".

It is true that it "bloats" the kernel, but older drivers without maintainers and users get evicted too.