Freebsd vs. linux

[Bart Silverstrim]

On Feb 14, 2005, at 7:43 PM, Anthony Atkielski wrote:

> Eric Kjeldergaard writes:
>
>> Well, no that's not entirely true...First off, there's the claim by
>> Windows itself that it's not drivers.
>
> The OS itself never identifies problems as being within the drivers.
> Driver code is assimilated with the kernel while it is running.
>
>> 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.
>
> Sure it would.  Most error messages are generic; few programmers are
> conscientious enough to put in extremely detailed and specific error
> messages.  And in some cases the OS doesn't really know what happened,
> especially for faults in the kernel (or the drivers, which are
> assimilated with the kernel, as I've said).
>
>> 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.
>
> They are not part of the operating system.

You spend a lot of time arguing...Let's look at it this way.

"It's not part of the OS!"

Fine.  Will MS let me buy just the kernel?

Didn't think so.  It's all or nothing.  While that's the technical way 
of looking at it (not part of the OS) they ARE part of the 
distribution, and for practicality's sake, and for the definition of 
any reasonable person, they ARE part of the OS.  If it comes with the 
average CD installation, it's part of the OS.  I don't hunt the @#$$% 
driver down, I don't run a separate installer, I don't jump through 
hoops to install it, the OS detects the device and installs the driver 
then for all purposes of the rest of the sane Earth it's "part of the 
OS".  Why?  I bought Windows, I installed it, and it installed the 
d!@%^ driver without intervention.

Extend it a little more, even MS argued that Internet Explorer was part 
of the operating system and could not be unbundled.  For their product 
definition, it was part of the OS.  Technically, it was not.  
Practically, it was.