Re: drivers in linux
On Thu, Jan 11, 2007 at 11:43:22PM +0000, Andrew Critchlow 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.
>
>
> 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?
>
The current testing version of Debian, Etch, will soon be stable.
Assuming that, since you're a newbie, you're not installing a
mission-critical server, you go with Etch.
The UNIX philosophy is to have small things do one thing well, then join
them together to do big things. The kernel (the core of the system if
you will) is the same. Every different kind of hardware is 'driven' by
a different chunk of the kernel. Some chunks are built into the kernel
as supplied by Debian, others are external into what are called modules.
When the kernel boots, all the chunks that are built-in look for their
corresponding piece of hardware. If a chunk looks for a piece of
hardware you don't have, it says so and the next chunk reports.
On Etch, once the kernel boots, a program called udev eventually gets
started. It looks as the modules that come with the kernel and watches
for the corresponding hardware. When it sees it, it installs the
module.
Bottom line:
Install Etch and don't worry about it. If you have problems, ask here.
Enjoy.
Doug.
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