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E.g. I often encounter this kind of speech:
"On one of my computers, I have an old Broadcom wireless card. Every time I install a new distro, I have to go through some extra steps to get that Broadcom chip working. When I install Manjaro, it works out of the box."
And so, the "Manjaro" thing is better than "Ubuntu" thing, etc.
Since all Linuxes share roughly the same kernel, wouldn't it be possible to have a super-repo of drivers that are suitable for them all (or 99% of distros)? Is this licensing or something?
Alexei S
Posted 2019-02-08T07:26:00.233
Reputation: 21
1Yes, it has to do with some distros not including proprietary drivers by default. – None – 2019-02-08T07:28:53.213
but what does it mean 'proprietary'? is this 'closed-source'? since all devices are proprietary, i.e. somebody has to set up a factory and produce them, and then sell to end users, so how could this process be entirely open and free – Alexei S – 2019-02-08T07:35:21.577
1Yes, it mean close-source, obviously. Some manufacturers release open-source drivers, other don't. Broadcom WiFi is usually closed. – None – 2019-02-08T07:37:36.850
@GabrielaGarcia that should be an answer. I'd have upvoted it. (In fact, I'd have written it if you had not stolen my thunder) – davidgo – 2019-02-08T07:40:15.253
but what is the point in going the distance of implementing a driver for Linux, giving it away for free for everybody, and then 'close' it, so it has limited accessibility for many distros? do they hope to make profit from somehow selling their driver software? – Alexei S – 2019-02-08T07:41:21.463
@AlexeiS Open-source means the code is open for anyone to audit whereas close-source means the exact opposite. It's a matter of protecting their "secrets". It has no correlation with commercial aspects. But this isn't the place to have such discussions, you may want a forum for that but don't be surprised if you're told off because this kind of discussions have been happening since my grandparents time. – None – 2019-02-08T07:47:44.123
1One of the fundamental concepts of Linux is everything being open source. Some distros take that more seriously than others regarding things added to Linux, like drivers. Distros targeting a user base of computer novices, Windows converts, etc. tend to bundle drivers regardless of whether they're open source because that audience has little interest in getting under the hood to make things work. Some, like Debian, that appeal to more tech-savy users, don't bundle non-open-source drivers but make them available on request (separate download). (cont'd) – fixer1234 – 2019-02-08T08:26:43.513
1Also, some distros strive to be very lightweight and purposely bundle only a minimum of stuff potentially not needed. Drivers for every conceivable piece of hardware can add up. – fixer1234 – 2019-02-08T08:26:48.597
Funny that it mostly related to wi-fi drivers, and one cannot download them on a machine without proper wi-fi already present ) – Alexei S – 2019-02-08T08:37:39.343