> with few device-specific drivers (which don't need to change, since the hardware doesn't)? The reason is that Linux has no stable in-kernel driver interface,

> with few device-specific drivers (which don't need to change, since the hardware doesn't)? The reason is that Linux has no stable in-kernel driver interface, so the drivers often have to change with new kernel release. Feel free to complain on the LKML why you consider this to be a bad idea ...