Re: Linux Driver Project Status Report as of April 2008devel- From: Greg KH To: Robert M. Albrecht CC: devel at linuxdriverproject.org > Hi, > >> Fedoras Mike McGrath has started Smolt. Smolt is included since Fedora 7 > and supports Ubuntu, Suse, ... A suggestion: you don?t need to sudo dpkg -i urlgrabber_3.1.0-2_all.deb sudo dpkg -i smolt_0.9.7.1.1-2_all.deb In Ubuntu, you can use Gdebi, to install the program clicking in the packages (visual installation of *.deb packages, ideal for newbies). Added to the Smoltwiki > >> Smolt collects hw-informations and sends them to a central server. This is > done once while installation and regulary while running the system. >> > https://hosted.fedoraproject.org/projects/smolt >Example: if you want to know, which network interfaces are used: >http://smolts.org/static/stats/by_class_NETWORK.html GOOD!. I also would add which driver can be installed / used for a new hardware you have in your computer. It is similar to the system used in other operating systems (help page) Include information about "works perfectly out of the box" would be usefull to know the hardware is linux compatible and how to solve an installation problem in some distros. >Yes, smolt has been out there for quite a while and is a nice try at doing something like this, but still fails for a database by which users can do a simple "does this device work with Linux" check while standing in a store. This is fundamental. For this, we can use http://smolts.org/wiki/Category:Works_out_of_the_box in the wiki. And use documentation from other GFDL wikis and webpages, hardware with the Linux logo (Tux) and so on, to create and improve the Linux compatibility database >It is a nice tool to use by kernel developers to validate which drivers should be focused more on, so in that usage model, it has succeeded very nicely. >> The idea was discussed to link this data to wiki-pages, so users can > contribute to a hw-database: drivers, howtos, status reports, ... >Has that happened? This is an interesting question. If no, we can talk here or in the wiki about how to create it using the same wiki. >> I think it has failed before, because the database would be large and needs >> to be updated very often. But Wikipedia and OpenStreetMap shows, this is > possible. If every user does only contribute his two PCs, we could cover > all eixsting hardware. There is a problem with http://smolts.org/w/index.php?title=Special:Userlogin : one cannot create a new account :-( I would initially reduce it to the most vital hardware: WiFi, USB, Bluetooth and modems / routers (the hardware you need to connect to the Internet and download / update system packages or install other drivers). Other hardware can be updated in a second step. >Mapping pci id to a physical device sitting in a box is an almost impossible task. Same goes for USB devices (are you going to be able to tell the difference between two different versions of a device properly?) How Windows does it?. When there is not a driver for a hardware, it opens a help webpage about how to obtain it. In any case, we could link the hardware with the Kernel drivers (i.e. the driver for Huawei E220 can be used as an example). What is the best way to do it? >I welcome the attempt, but still remain unconvinced that it will be possible. Please feel free to prove me wrong, it would not be the first time :) I think this can be done :-) Again, good work. I add it to help pages of some Linux distros. Regards. Pedro.
