This doesn't sound like an issue with DRY as much as an issue of monolithic design. If driver version X worked but X+1 doesn't on your driver - don't update th

This doesn't sound like an issue with DRY as much as an issue of monolithic design. If driver version X worked but X+1 doesn't on your driver - don't update the driver. But when the driver is in the kernel trunk then that option isn't that simple.