Hello John comments inline. regards, sandeep. -----Original Message----- From: anaconda-devel-list-bounces@xxxxxxxxxx [mailto:anaconda-devel-list-bounces@xxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of John Summerfield Sent: Monday, March 24, 2008 5:09 PM To: Discussion of Development and Customization of the Red Hat Linux Installer Subject: Re: [ PATCH ] RFC: Search and load drivers automatically fromusb-storage media Sandeep_K_Shandilya@xxxxxxxx wrote: > Hello John > > comments inline. > > regards, > sandeep. > > -----Original Message----- > From: anaconda-devel-list-bounces@xxxxxxxxxx > [mailto:anaconda-devel-list-bounces@xxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of John > Summerfield > Sent: Wednesday, March 19, 2008 5:24 AM > To: Discussion of Development and Customization of the Red Hat Linux > Installer > Subject: Re: [ PATCH ] RFC: Search and load drivers automatically > fromusb-storage media > > Sandeep_K_Shandilya@xxxxxxxx wrote: >> Hello John >> >> That is what this patch is attempting to do, solve the problem of >> hunting for drivers on the net. This patch is changing anaconda so >> that it automagically looks for drivers in USB storage embedded >> inside > >> the box loads and installs it. Maybe not for the old hardware that >> you > >> already are using but for the upcoming servers. > > So you have binary-only drivers? > <sandeep> > dkms rpms carry source and binaries. The binarie kernel modules could > be used at install time to recognise new hardware. Once install > completes then you could install the dkms rpms. I have dkms installed on one of my servers, it was pulled in when I installed madwifi, along with a heap of other stuff including gcc. I am not enthused at having gcc installed on a server. <sandeep> Dell does not support or package the madwifi driver. we dont promote this hardware on linux. > Here is a layout of the file system, This should make it a lot clear > now. > > oemdrv/ > oemdrv/megaraid_sas_dd.img > oemdrv/mptlinux_dd.img > oemdrv/abc/ > oemdrv/abc/megaraid_sas_dkms.noarch.rpm > oemdrv/def/ > oemdrv/def/dkms-2.0.17-1.noarch.rpm > oemdrv/hij/ > oemdrv/hij/mptlinux-dkms.noarch.rpm > > the *dd.img will be used at install time( this has to contain binary > kernel modules ). > The rpms contain the binaries and the source. The binaries are > compiled against the Dell supported RHEL distro. if you have a new > rhel distro the source will be installed by dkms in /usr/src/.. you > could compile the driver for your distro and use it. > infact dkms is also available in the universe section on ubuntu. dkms > is supported on many other linux distro's. It is not clear to me that you have answered my question. When I use the term "binary-only drivers," I mean drivers for which Dell does not willingly provide source. <sandeep> dkms is a packaging tool and anybody could use it as a vehicle to publish open-source or non-opensource drivers. I am NOT saying that a *dkms.rpm == opensource driver. I think you mistook me on that. Is there any part of the Dell drivers for which a customer cannot get the source under an OSI-approved licence, preferably GPL2 or later? < sandeep > For Server hardware, drivers are opensource (all drivers ship with source) a few client hardware drivers are non-opensource( Eg 3d acclerated drivers and wireless drivers ) I might want to run RHEL, I might prefer CentOS or even Fedora, all of with Anaconda supports, or I might even prefer a distro which Anaconda does not support such as Debian, and I may not care whether it's _certified_ on my platform provided that there's a reasonable probability that it will work and that my hardware vendor won't be too harsh if there's a problem. <sandeep> This patch and RFC is specifically for anaconda. _I_ do in fact run all the distros I've just mentioned, and more. If Dell wants to be difficult about the source code to its drivers, and any of other vendors such as Sun, HP and IBM does provide source and help should I have problems with non-certified hardware, the Dell is batting on a very sticky wicket. <sandeep> As I already mentioned, with respect to Server hardware (Poweredge brand) you should have nothing to worry. > > My very favourite rescue disk is Knoppix. Sometimes I have the latest > on hand, sometimes not. I am less concerned about security updates > than I am about my regular distro, so provided the CD to hand boots > I'm happy to use it. I use it for Linux and Windows systems alike - i > can't do a lot to _repair_ a broken Windows system, but it can help > with cloning it, with resizing its filesystems etc. > > Debian is very picky about what it allows into its distro, and Knoppix > is based off Debian. Klaus Knopper, who created Knoppix, might not see > value in including DKMS, he has to make some sacrifices to get it all > down to a single CD. > > If it doesn't work with your hardware, then I can't use my favourite > rescue CD. > > If I'm running a standard RHEL or CentOS or Fedora or Debian or *SUSE > system and I have a problem, I have a well-defined path to follow to > report it and in the fullness of time to get a fix. > > As I understand it, if I'm running one of your binary-only drivers, I > don't have any support. The kernel's tainted and, I've been told, the > fact of the driver's being loaded means it could have done bad things. > > I recall an incident, many years ago, when RH was bitten by this very > issue, in respect of CDE that RH used to distribute with RHL. RH > couldn't fix CDE and its supplier wouldn't or wouldn't do it in the > timeframe RH required. > > I'm not sure that DELL would provide full support for RHEL, or even > the kernel, on one of its servers. > > And if you think I'm difficult, go to debian.org and read some of the > discussions about non-free bits in the kernel! > > > -- Cheers John -- spambait 1aaaaaaa@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Z1aaaaaaa@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx -- Advice http://webfoot.com/advice/email.top.php http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html http://support.microsoft.com/kb/555375 You cannot reply off-list:-) _______________________________________________ Anaconda-devel-list mailing list Anaconda-devel-list@xxxxxxxxxx https://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/anaconda-devel-list _______________________________________________ Anaconda-devel-list mailing list Anaconda-devel-list@xxxxxxxxxx https://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/anaconda-devel-list
