Re: RFC: DKMS - Dynamic Kernel Module Support
On Sat, Sep 13, 2008 at 09:32:41PM -0500, Gunnar Wolf wrote:
> Tzafrir Cohen dijo [Sat, Sep 13, 2008 at 07:08:05AM +0000]:
> > > > - Having files *vital* to the system not tracked by dpkg is
> > > > counter-productive. At the very least it thwarts the most basic and
> > > > obvious way of integrity protection.
> > >
> > > Dpkg is not tripwire. If you think you can rely on dpkg for checking
> > > data integrity, you are fooling yourself.
> >
> > Many of those modules distributed by dkms are ones that the user is also
> > likely to try installing on his own from source. debsums helps answering
> > the question: "oh here's a little module, I wonder where it came from?"
> >
> > Do not assume everybody maintaining the system know of dkms (or of m-a
> > or such). Knowledge of debsums or equivalent should be assumed from
> > anybody maintaining a Debian system.
Correction: that question is naturally answered by dpkg -S . debsums
helps confirm this.
>
> What does "maintain" mean to you? Do you think that everybody who
> bought a Nokia 810 tablet or similar uses it on a daily basis? They
> _are_ maintained a Debian-based system. Do regular Ubuntu desktop
> users know (or care) about it?
Do you want to have a build system on your Nokia 810? Or put the
relevant modules in a repository?
An Ubuntu Desktop user who was tempted to install Nvidia drivers from
source (yes, I saw such suggestions over the 'net) would be in a better
position when asking support in a forum.
You see, when you have multiple modules of the same name in the modules
directory (/lib/modules/<kernel-version>) , the output of modinfo can be
misleading: the module listed by modinfo is not necesserily the one that
will get loaded by modprobe. I've had all sort of such spooky
situations. In such a cases I can normally guess by the time and version
field where thtat module comes from, and likewise, by the subdirectory.
But I see no reason every user will need my experience. I see no reason
some random Joe at the forrum answering the suer's questions should need
to do more guesswork.
--
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