Október közepén írtam a Linuxant Inc., azon kezdeményezéséről, amely segítségével lehetőségünk nyílik a windowsos eszközmeghajtó-programokat Linux 2.4-es és 2.6-os kernel alatt betölteni. A DriverLoader™ egy wrapper program, amely ``beburkolja'' a win32 környezetre íródott meghajtókat, és használhatóvá teszi őket a Linux kernel számára.
A DriverLoader ingyen hozzáférhető bárkinek (egyelőre, lásd a bejelentés alján levő megjegyzést). Október 27-én megjelent a DriverLoader™ 1.2, amely már egyre több wireless hálózati meghajtót támogat.
A támogatott eszközök között vannak a Intel PRO/Wireless (Centrino), Intersil Prism GT/Duette/Indigo, Broadcom, Atheros, és egyéb Wireless LAN driver-ek (az egyéb gondolom a ``próba - cseresznye'' kategória). Ez azért jó hír, mert az Intel egyelőre nem ad ki linuxos drivert a Centrino stuffokhoz, így az ilyen anyaggal felszerelt notebookkal rendelkező emberek életét megkönnyítheti a wrapper.
Támogatott eszközök listája itt. Letöltés itt. Telepítési útmutató itt. FAQ, Changelog.
A Linuxant Inc., bejelentése:LINUXANT RELEASES NEW DRIVERLOADER™ FOR INTEL CENTRINO, INTERSIL, BROADCOM, ATHEROS, AND OTHER WIRELESS LAN DEVICES
MONTREAL, QC Oct. 27, 2003 - Linuxant inc., a world-class supplier of consulting, software development and professional support services is announcing the immediate availability of DriverLoader™ 1.2, a revolutionary compatibility-wrapper allowing standard Windows NDIS (Network Driver Interface Specification) drivers shipped by hardware vendors to be used as-is on Linux x86 systems.
The main highlight of this new release is significant compatibility improvements with simultaneous support for multiple Windows drivers. DriverLoader 1.2 now supports Intel PRO/Wireless (Centrino), Intersil Prism GT/Duette/Indigo, Broadcom, Atheros, and other Wireless LAN drivers for Windows.
Linuxant is committed to continue improving DriverLoader so that it becomes a fully compatible generic solution capable of running the majority of Windows NDIS drivers.
DriverLoader technology is the ideal Linux solution to support devices for which no adequate native open-source drivers are available. It also allows vendors to drastically reduce time to market or eliminate the need to support multiple drivers for Windows and Linux. By using the same NDIS driver on both platforms, significant resources can be saved. All Linux-specific code in DriverLoader remains open-source, allowing it to be used under any supported version of the kernel.
Thanks to DriverLoader, owners of Wireless LAN devices (CardBus and PCI) with compatible Windows drivers can now use their devices under Linux, enjoying the full speed of the latest Wireless LAN technology with the freedom of the renowned open-source operating-system.
DriverLoader packages can be downloaded from Linuxant's web site at no cost*. The software is easy to install on standard Linux distributions (RedHat, SuSE, Mandrake, Debian, and derivatives) with any recent 2.4 or 2.6 kernel, and includes a user-friendly Web-based configuration system.
Vendors interested in using DriverLoader technology to enable their products under Linux should contact services@linuxant.com.
For more information or to download your copy of DriverLoader, please go to http://www.linuxant.com
About Linuxant
Linuxant is a world-class supplier of consulting, software development and professional support services. Linuxant works closely with leading vendors and OEMs of semiconductor, PC, embedded and communication/wireless products, as well as with companies in other industries, providing technological expertise and solutions to maximize the potential of Linux and open-source. Additionally, Linuxant develops and distributes specialized system software, such as device drivers for specific applications.
* Linuxant is happy to provide free trial DriverLoader licenses, while discussions are under way with hardware vendors to finance development costs. Linuxant hopes that DriverLoader will remain free for end-users.