Re: drivers in linux

[Tyler MacDonald <tyler@yi.org>]

Andrew,
	This works way, way, way differently in linux.

	If you type "dmesg", after a clean boot, you'll get a report
of every driver that started up.

	If you type "ifconfig -a", you can get a list of all configured
network cards.

	If you type "lsmod", you'll get a list of all loaded kernel drivers.

	Most hardware will be auto-detected, and the debian linux kernel
comes with just about every hardware driver available, so on most systems,
you shouldn't need to "manage" your devices in that way. Most third-party
linux drivers can be installed without too much trouble; it's *really* easy
if they've been debianized. But this is too big of a topic to cover in one
email / HOWTO; you really need to go through the process a few times with a
few different types of drivers to get the hang of it. If there's something
specific you need to install, I'd advise you start your learning there. :-)

	Cheers,
		Tyler


Andrew Critchlow <a_critchlow@hotmail.com> wrote:
> Can anyone please explain to me how drivers work in linux/debian?
> I am a newbie and have come over from microsoft. So my knowledge is of drivers and device manager and stuff from windows.
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> Is there such a device manager in linux/debian?
> And if I was to install a network card for example how could I check to see if it was installed correctly (without trying it), how would I install drivers for it etc?
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> thanks all
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> Andrew.
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