Score:1

Does the kernel contain drivers for EVERY device?

in flag

I am aware that the kernel does not contain some stuff, like Nvidia drivers or Intel cpu drivers. Those need to be downloaded separately. I get it. What I am asking is, does the kernel keep drivers for all devices that existed even decades ago?

ChanganAuto avatar
us flag
Unless it's a pain to maintain drivers are kept, according to Linus Torvalds. Any open-source driver can be added and as a matter of fact Intel drivers are included. Nvidia drivers can't because proprietary.
ar flag
In general the Linux kernel includes all open source devices. Over the decades support for very old devices are dropped. For example, floppy drives and printers models with parallel ports (before the advent of USB) may not be included any more.
Nmath avatar
ng flag
What is the problem you are trying to solve here?
Score:4
bo flag

No, they are not kept if no longer in widespread use.

This Phoronix article discusses a recently deprecated, legacy IDE driver that will be removed from future kernel versions. Coincidentally, the article mentions that most distributions transitioned away from the legacy driver over a decade ago.

Also, this Redhat notice lists drivers that will not be supported in future releases. I'm not sure how many of these drivers are included in the kernel but my guess is that at least a few, if not most of these are kernel drivers.

mchid avatar
bo flag
Lots of results on Google if you search "deprecated linux kernel drivers".
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