On Wed, 2007-09-05 at 13:38 +0100, Karanbir Singh wrote: > Hi guys, > > I have been thinking about starting something that brings in extra Hardware > compatibility and drivers to the stock centos kernel. Perhaps doing this as a > SIG might be a good idea. > > The aim would be ( but not limited to ): > > - Find and coordinate the efforts by various hardware vendors to support CentOS > > - Publish a comprehensive ( as much as possible ) install time DriverDisk ( both > as an .img and .iso ) > > - Create, test and publish a mechanism to follow kernel updates ( might need > someone to actually have access to some of this hardware, but it should be > manageable specially if we can get the attention of hardware vendors ). > > - Create a feedback-loop that makes it easy for users to request drivers / > functionality in the stock and plus kernels. How we deliver on this is perhaps a > discussion in itself, and something we can consider when we come to it. Seems that kernels/drivers/modules diverging from the upstream would need to be in [a] separate repo[s], something like Johnny's 100Hz kernels. > - Bring together into 1 place all the various opensource drivers being published > by Vendors ( 3ware, areca, tyan, supermicro etc ) for newer versions of their > products that are not in the upstream version as yet. This might mean setting up > an ftp location somewhere (?) Could get sticky, depending on license issues. Why not just maintain a set of links to the latest sources from the vendors? > - I would also not mind looking at the very dark grey area of providing updated > drivers for some components ( like the recent bcm and marvell ethernet drivers > that really do need updating in the upstream kernel ) - but this again depends > on how people feel about it - in lots of cases, we might end up step into and > through a redhat patch. > > Now, what does everyone else think ? If I start this, is it going to be only me > there or is someone else going to come along for the ride as well ? Overall, your objectives sound great. The dark-gray territory would be a challenge, but seems like good CentOS value-added if done carefully, with appropriate caveats, and (obviously) kept outside the core repos. Just not sure what the advantage of a SIG is over keeping it on centos-devel. Please elaborate. Phil