Return-Path: Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org via listexpand id ; Wed, 27 Nov 2002 12:40:35 -0500 Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org id ; Wed, 27 Nov 2002 12:40:35 -0500 Received: from mhw.ulib.iupui.edu ([134.68.164.23]:55255 "EHLO mhw.ulib.iupui.edu") by vger.kernel.org with ESMTP id ; Wed, 27 Nov 2002 12:40:34 -0500 Date: Wed, 27 Nov 2002 12:47:54 -0500 (EST) From: "Mark H. Wood" X-X-Sender: To: Linux kernel list Subject: Re: A Kernel Configuration Tale of Woe Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Sender: linux-kernel-owner@vger.kernel.org X-Mailing-List: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org Content-Length: 1353 Lines: 29 On Tue, 26 Nov 2002, Otto Wyss wrote: [snip] > IMO each driver should be able (within resonable limits) to detect the > hardware it is written for, returning a simple true/false. This way any > driver could be asked if its hardware is available. With trial and error > it should be possible to autodetect any hardware. This way there is no > need for a centralize database. Of course if there is no driver one > could ask that hardware never gets detected. Please, no. Try installing Microsoft Windows on some box if you want to see this idea in action. They've done it that way for years: throw all available drivers at the hardware and see which ones stick. Pick a time when you have a couple of hours to waste -- the process is agonizingly slow. Much better to simply ask each bus what's sitting on it. Only non-PnP ISA devices are unable to answer. If the box has no ISA slots, then the configuration can be done without any user intervention in a few milliseconds. -- Mark H. Wood, Lead System Programmer mwood@IUPUI.Edu MS Windows *is* user-friendly, but only for certain values of "user". - To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-kernel" in the body of a message to majordomo@vger.kernel.org More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html Please read the FAQ at http://www.tux.org/lkml/