[fab] slashdot question -- driver support
Tim Burke
tburke at redhat.com
Thu Aug 10 14:04:11 UTC 2006
Tom 'spot' Callaway wrote:
> On Thu, 2006-08-10 at 13:50 +0200, Tim Burke wrote:
>
>> Max Spevack wrote:
>>
>>> 2) Drivers Vs Linux
>>> (Score:5, Interesting)
>>> by eldavojohn
>>>
>>> A lot of people I talk to say they don't like Linux due to lack of
>>> driver support. Is there anyway you see this problem being eliminated?
>>> How do you court vendors to support their hardware on your flavor of
>>> Linux?
>>>
>>>
>> This response would warrant some spin cleanup, but how about something
>> along the lines of:
>> - RH has strong established relationships with the major IHVs and we
>> work closely with them for Linux hardware enablement. These vendors
>> recognize the importance of community involvement through Fedora as a
>> means of helping to ensure robust operation.
>>
>
> Examples?
>
Dell, HP, IBM, Intel, AMD, Fujitsu, Hitachi, NEC, etc... they all send
us hardware and proposed patches. Further, we encourage these partners
to be proactively doing testing on Fedora so that things are well
prepared for RHEL releases.
>
>> - RH also works with many companies to help coach and mentor them to the
>> merits of open source development. We help guide them through the
>> process of the upstream development model.
>>
>
> Examples?
>
Broadcom on their network driver. Promise on SATA/SAS. Intel on network
driver work. We have been spending a lot of time collectively between
IBM/RH and Adaptec on their most recent raid adapter drivers. The
Adaptec case is a good example. They saw the light after having the pain
of not being mainstreamed. We have been working with them over the past
6 months to mentor them to get the driver prepared for upstream
incorporation.
>
>> - The increasing clout of Linux is making hardware vendors increasingly
>> receptive. The battle is not over, but it is an improving trend. For
>> example, AMD's recent announcement that they are considering open
>> sourcing the ATI graphics driver.
>>
>
> Anywhere we can have tangible examples, this message gets stronger, and
> goes from rhetoric to motivation.
>
>
Intel has also been good lately in terms of keeping e100/e1000 current..
as well as their graphics peripherals.
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