Re: [SLUG] hardware dependancies?

From: Daniel Jarboe (daniel.jarboe@gmail.com)
Date: Tue Jan 31 2006 - 13:51:39 EST


On 1/30/06, Ian Blenke <icblenke@nks.net> wrote:
> Every Linux distribution has one thing in common: they use a Linux kernel.
> Every distribution uses a _different_ kernel source tree, each
> maintaining its own patchset against some vanilla base version of the
> Linux kernel.
> Every Linux kernel build is different. That's why kernels are "versioned".
> Along with the changes in the kernel source, every kernel has a
> different kernel configuration, tuned for a target hardware platform and
> architecture.
> This means that the "drivers" for any given hardware are highly
> dependant on your distribution's kernel source and configuration.

<snip etc etc.>

> This is why we maintain our _own_ distribution of Linux, based loosely
> on Debian. It's the only way to ensure the same behavior across a
> _large_ Linux server cluster.

Some clarification maybe... or I missed a logical connection
somewhere. It's pretty smooth sailing until the "This is why..."
part.

Do you _really_ need to maintain your very own distro to ensure the
same behavior across a large server cluster?"

More likely you maintain your own to address other concerns (perhaps
you already need to build/customize enough software to justify the
extra work)? Ordinarily someone wouldn't be required to roll their
own just to expect similar behavior from a single distro among similar
hardware... using any single reasonable distro should be sufficient to
shield one from variation among distributions.

~ Daniel

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