Freebsd vs. linux

[Eric Kjeldergaard]

On Tue, 15 Feb 2005 00:18:57 +0100, Anthony Atkielski
<atkielski.anthony at wanadoo.fr> wrote:
> Eric Kjeldergaard writes:
> 
> > I have to go with Loren, the BSOD certainly still comes up with
> > NT/2k/(especially)XP systems.  I have had systems that would Blue
> > Screen about once a week.  And, before someone (read Anthony) comes
> > out saying "You're using bum drivers or flaky apps"  I definitely was.
> >  I was, however, using ONLY things coming from the Windows Install CDs
> > or the Windows updates system which means that it's the OS itself that
> > is at fault.
> 
> No, it's not.  The drivers are often written by third parties, even when
> they are provided with the OS.  And if they contain bugs, they may
> crash the system.
> 
> Unfortunately, modules that provide access to the hardware for the
> operating system must execute at the same level of privilege as the
> kernel; in other words, they must be "trusted."  The OS has no defense
> against bugs in these modules.  This is true in any OS, and it is often
> a problem for operating systems if the device drivers (or their
> equivalents) are unreliable.
> 
> The OS itself is not faulting; the device drivers are doing that.  But
> the OS has no choice but to trust the device drivers, otherwise they
> cannot fulfill their purpose.  So if they fault, they often do so in
> kernel mode, and the OS is forced to take the system down for reasons of
> safety.
> 

Well, no that's not entirely true...First off, there's the claim by
Windows itself that it's not drivers.  You've read the code (as you
say) and know that Windows wouldn't possibly lie about the fact that
it's not the drivers.  And then there's the thing where since one is
including drivers along with an operating system, they are part of the
operating system even if they were written by a third party.

-- 
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