Driver Issues with Linux Kernel
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With Linux kernel having its considerable share of driver issues, this article will hopefully lay some of them to rest.
New Security Update to Fix Linux Kernel Vulnerabilities
Linux kernel is far from perfect and its latest security update, announced last July 28th, was developed to fix four key vulnerabilities, one of which dealt with network drivers. The other three concerned page table roots, personality flags, and validation of buffer sizes with eCryptfs.
As for the RTL8169 network driver, buffer size validation was also a problem. Michael Tokarev, who discovered this particular vulnerability with Linux kernel, showed that any remote hacker on the local area network (LAN) could cause the entire system to crash or gain increased privileges.
The security update is strongly recommended for users of 9.04, 8.10, 8.04 LTS, and 6.06 LTS of Ubuntu. Users of Xubuntu, Edubuntu, and Kubuntu are also encouraged to install the update.
No More X11 Video Drivers
If you want to use something else beside the X11 video driver with your Linux kernel then you simply have to get a hold of Ubuntu 9.10. X11 video driver will be replaced by the kernel mode setting, which is enabled by default for Intel-based vido cards. This means that the kernel mode setting is now responsible for all graphic mode configurations of your console.
This setup not only allows a number of programs to run faster but also simplifies video infrastructure. When kernel problems arise, this setup also makes debugging easier for developers.
While normal users shouldn’t expect huge changes, they may notice a bit of improvement when it comes to switching between virtual terminals and consoles or between different user accounts.
Ubuntu 9.10 will be released on October.
Microsoft Help with Driver Source Code May Be Too Late
According to the Software Freedom Law Center, Microsoft has violated the GNU General Public License (GPLv2) when it combined open source or free software code with its own closed source software for its Hyper V device, which is prohibited by the GPL.
Of course, Microsoft had tried to make up for its ‘oversight’ by subsequently releasing over twenty thousand lines of source code to the Linux kernel project. This move is not, however, without any benefits for Microsoft. If and when it is accepted, it could make Linux run better when it’s used under Hyper-V virtualization – something which can be considered as a pre-emptive move to prevent users from switching to Linux completely.