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Re: RFC: discover 1 -> 2 transition plan for Debian



Marco d'Itri wrote:
Petter, this is not a problem but a feature. Actually I consider
discover broken by design because it needs a proprietary database which
must be updated for each driver added to the kernel and for each new
device supported by each driver.

I'm finding it a little difficult to respond to this without it sounding something like "yeah, well hotplug has cooties!" So let me say up front that I'm not trying to start a flame war.

I fail to understand the word "proprietary". Of course, the format is open (being XML-based), and is well-documented.

The fact that discover keeps separate databases is "not a problem but a feature". Discover is intended to solve the whole hardware detection problem, not just the task of loading Linux kernel modules. For example:

 - Which XFree86 driver works with my video card?
 - How do I format PostScript to talk to my printer?
 - What software do I need to install for my new scanner to work?
 - What package contains the special tweak utilities for my laptop?
 - What FreeBSD driver does my network card need?

These, I suspect, might be difficult questions for hotplug to answer.

But we in the discover camp are interested in getting hotplug and discover working together better, despite hotplug's "broken by design" limitations. :-) Might the hotplug people be willing to do the same?

I'd like to discuss more about the future of hotplug and discover in
debian, so I encourage interested parties to look for me and Ukai on
IRC or to send mail to debian-boot (but please always Cc me as I only
skim the list from time to time).

I'm not often on IRC, but perhaps at some point I'll come by.



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