Re: drivers in linux
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On Thu, Jan 11, 2007 at 08:00:02PM -0500, celejar wrote:
> On 1/11/07, jdaues <jdaues@unm.edu> wrote:
>
> [snip]
>
> >I've only started using Debian in the last week, so be warned.
> >But so far the closest thing I see to a device manager is a package
> >called module-assistant:
> >http://packages.debian.org/unstable/devel/module-assistant
>
> Module-assistant is a Debian-specific tool for the building and
> installing of drivers that Debian packages as source code
^^^^^^^^^^^
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The reason that some drivers are packages as source code as opposed to
being included in the kernel or as binary modules is because of
licenseing, being experimental and not being able to be redistributed in
binary form. This means that those can not be distrubuted the way 99% of
everything else in Debian can be. This includes nvidia video modules,
ISDN modem modules, wifi modules, webcam modules, ...
Debian is different than other distros. Other distros are meant to be
'end user' products. We want others to be able to reuse what we do, this
makes it possible for others like Ubuntu, Knoppix and a 100 others to
exist. This means that everything must be redistutable and not just free
to use.
cheers,
Kev
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