2015-03-09 23:28 GMT+01:00, David Lang <da...@lang.hm>: > On Mon, 9 Mar 2015, José Vázquez wrote: > >> OpenWRT is a linux distro oriented to networking so the kernel and >> drivers are important, but you must not forget that the init process >> (procd and related after AA) is one of the cores of this distro and >> makes it work. The most relevant packages are oriented to networking, >> but with the feeds you can make anything that you want, making it very >> versatile. >> Also we must take in mind that OpenWRT works with GPL drivers and code >> (only few are proprietary); I think that one of the main advantages of >> use them is that anybody can contribute, and IMHO, are easy to >> maintain. >> One of the performance penalties come with the network drivers: while >> proprietary drivers are tightly coupled with the hardware, the drivers >> developed by OpenWRT guys and collaborators should not be so >> "complicated" because when the kernel version is changed they can >> generate a lot of problems and headaches, while more "generic" drivers >> do not take advantage of all the hardware features, overloading the >> cpu with tasks that in stock firmwares are managed by specific >> subsystems that are faster for those specific tasks. > > there is no reason why the open drivers need to be slower than the > proprietary > ones. History has shown that with sufficient information, the open drivers > end > up being as fast, or faster than the proprietary ones. But it does take time > and > cooperation with the manufacturer to do this with the latest hardware. > > Open drivers can be modified along with the kernel to take advantage of the > > newest features in the kernel. Proprietary drivers are either written for > one > specific kernel, or with a shim layer that limits how well the driver can > work > with future kernels. > > David Lang
Sorry, big mistake. :( You are right, open source drivers do not mean bad and/or incomplete drivers. _______________________________________________ openwrt-devel mailing list openwrt-devel@lists.openwrt.org https://lists.openwrt.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/openwrt-devel
