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If the driver is in the kernel tree, then the Linux community maintains the driver for you for free basically (if a refactor of some internal kernel API is done

If the driver is in the kernel tree, then the Linux community maintains the driver for you for free basically (if a refactor of some internal kernel API is done, all drivers are updated), but once the driver is old enough, new kernel releases might sometimes removes those old drivers (and even drop support for old CPUs as well). Closed-source bobs are closely tied to the kernel version, since the kernel’s internal ABI and API is constantly changing. There is some documentation on why here: https://github.com/torvalds/linux/blob/master/Documentation/process/stable-api-nonsense.rst https://github.com/torvalds/linux/blob/master/Documentation/...

rs186 1y ago
Well, in my experience, the most important thing to worry about is whether the driver is there in the first place.
criddell 1y ago
Might be a dumb question, but why are so many drivers in the kernel? I get that things like a mass storage device probably needs to be in the kernel but a printer or mouse driver seems like it should work from the user space.
- hamandcheese 1y ago
  I was wondering the opposite... why doesn't Windows have most drivers built in like the Linux kernel?
  - criddell 1y ago
    If something doesn’t need kernel access, is it good for it to have kernel access?
  - frollogaston 1y ago
    I've always assumed that it actually does, and in both cases people are installing drivers from outside for less common peripherals. Maybe I'm wrong.
  - eddythompson80 1y ago
    To a large degree Windows offers a lot of generic drivers for everything from wifi to trackpads to bluetooth devices. Hardware vendors can still offer advanced drivers and tools to tweak special things about a particular trackpad or a wifi device. But also because NT interface is mostly stable unlike linux. last really major version was 20 years ago and there Microsoft doesn't need to maintain 3rd party drivers in-tree. Also, the licensing and distribution mechanism and vehicles make certain things too complex. Also plenty of people don't like these linux kernel images and build stripped down ones.
TiredOfLife 1y ago
Even old versions of the driver?
- winter_blue 1y ago
  There’s no such thing as an “old version” for an in-kernel driver. As the kernel is maintained, polished, and updated, all drivers are maintained as well. Proprietary blobs otoh, will break quickly, and have to constantly keep up with new kernel releases.

rs186 1y ago

Well, in my experience, the most important thing to worry about is whether the driver is there in the first place.

criddell 1y ago

Might be a dumb question, but why are so many drivers in the kernel? I get that things like a mass storage device probably needs to be in the kernel but a printer or mouse driver seems like it should work from the user space.

hamandcheese 1y ago
I was wondering the opposite... why doesn't Windows have most drivers built in like the Linux kernel?
- criddell 1y ago
  If something doesn’t need kernel access, is it good for it to have kernel access?
- frollogaston 1y ago
  I've always assumed that it actually does, and in both cases people are installing drivers from outside for less common peripherals. Maybe I'm wrong.
- eddythompson80 1y ago
  To a large degree Windows offers a lot of generic drivers for everything from wifi to trackpads to bluetooth devices. Hardware vendors can still offer advanced drivers and tools to tweak special things about a particular trackpad or a wifi device. But also because NT interface is mostly stable unlike linux. last really major version was 20 years ago and there Microsoft doesn't need to maintain 3rd party drivers in-tree. Also, the licensing and distribution mechanism and vehicles make certain things too complex. Also plenty of people don't like these linux kernel images and build stripped down ones.

TiredOfLife 1y ago

Even old versions of the driver?

winter_blue 1y ago
There’s no such thing as an “old version” for an in-kernel driver. As the kernel is maintained, polished, and updated, all drivers are maintained as well. Proprietary blobs otoh, will break quickly, and have to constantly keep up with new kernel releases.