Hello John Your point about using this technique to mask non-free software is a good one, yes it is possible to do it. But then the same could be achieved in other ways too. I think what is good for the end customer is what open source is all about. Regards, Sandeep. -----Original Message----- From: anaconda-devel-list-bounces@xxxxxxxxxx [mailto:anaconda-devel-list-bounces@xxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of John Summerfield Sent: Friday, March 28, 2008 6:17 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: >>> 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! >>> > <sandeep> > This is not about free and non-free stuff, that is a differnet topic. I've been having trouble discovering just what I would be getting should I buy a Dell server, and your technique could well be used to mask non-free software. I've been using Linux for about ten years now, and I've become accustomed to doing things a certain way. I become uncomfortable when a vendor wants to do things differently, and I really do not like phone-home software. > This a > method to solve a problem that customers have. To further clarify things in my mind, I went to Dell.au's website and chose a server we might conceivably buy where I work. I settled on a Poweredge R300. Then I went to the support page and found me a download for RHEL5. I'm actually running Scientfic Linux 5 on my desktop, so it's a fair comparison. I figure that what I find on the website's probably about what I'd be getting from Dell for that system. I then tried to investigate the package's contents. It was tricky, my enquiries were about this successful. 09:16 [summer@numbat ~]$ rpm -qp downloads/sg-3\[1\].5.34dell-1dkms.noarch.rpm --scripts 09:16 [summer@numbat ~]$ That is, no output. So I tried to test installing it: 09:16 [summer@numbat ~]$ sudo rpm -i --test downloads/sg-3\[1\].5.34dell-1dkms.noarch.rpm Password: error: File not found by glob: downloads/sg-3[1].5.34dell-1dkms.noarch.rpm 09:18 [summer@numbat ~]$ Okay, a bug in rpm. I did better when I renamed the file: 09:19 [summer@numbat ~]$ rpm -qlip sg.rpm Name : sg Relocations: (not relocatable) Version : 3.5.34dell Vendor: (none) Release : 1dkms Build Date: Wed Jun 13 23:40:10 2007 Install Date: (not installed) Build Host: berlin-4-hem Group : System/Kernel Source RPM: sg-3.5.34dell-1dkms.src.rpm Size : 84574 License: Unknown Signature : (none) Packager : DKMS <dkms-devel@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> Summary : sg 3.5.34dell dkms package Description : Kernel modules for sg 3.5.34dell in a DKMS wrapper. /usr/src/sg-3.5.34dell /usr/src/sg-3.5.34dell/sg-3.5.34dell-mktarball.dkms.tgz 09:19 [summer@numbat ~]$ So if I understand you correctly, this is pretty much what you'd be putting in the driver storage. I unpacked the rpm using rpm2cpio and find both a prebuilt kernel module, and what looks to be the source to recreate it. In this case we have a standard GPL-licenced Linux driver, with a one-line Dell patch. I suppose the system was certified at RHEL5.0. If it worked with RHEL5.0 then I don't see the need for RHEL5.0 drivers in usb-storage, unless RH declined to accept the patch, so I suppose that it was certified with this patch in place and that I'd need it to install RHEL5.0 and maybe CentOS5.0 and SL5.0. Supposing my suppositions are all well-founded, then it would be good to have the driver in USB storage, I'm very good at losing CDs, and even without that skill, where I work most of our computers are three years old before we get them (but then, in such a case, it would be reasonable to expect not to need the Dell driver). I'm still not keen on the idea of DKMS, it'd rather not be expected to maintain a C compiler on a server. I would prefer a yum repo at Dell, together with instructions for pinning so one gets only the Dell bits from Dell, but getting the updates from RH etc would be even better. -- 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
