how to override kernel modules?

[Fernando Pablo Lopez-Lezcano]

On Mon, 2004-06-14 at 11:37, Arjan van de Ven wrote:
> On Mon, 2004-06-14 at 20:22, Florin Andrei wrote:
> > Of all operating systems i've dealt with so far, Linux seems to
> > consistently choose the worst methods for installing new drivers,
> > updating them, etc. Even Windows for Workgroups was better in this
> > regard.
> 
> linux has a different driver model. Drivers are part of the kernel. Full
> members, including being part of the kernel source code. This has
> advantages for the programmers as well as for the users, for the former
> it is easier to do changes and see users of interfaces etc, for the
> later it means that 99.999% of the time the right drivers are just there
> instead of having to search half the intranet for drivers.
> 
> The model also has the downside that non-bundled drivers are a bit of an
> ignored stepchild....

Non-bundled drivers (ie: drivers that are not included in the kernel
source) are not a problem, as far as I can tell. It is possible to
package them. The problem I was pointing out is with upgrading drivers
that are already part of the kernel (and keeping everything properly
packaged and consistent, of course). 

I believe there was a mechanism for doing that in RH/FC with the older
modutils and 2.4.x (the "updates" directory), there is none available
for 2.6.x (AFAIK). 

-- Fernando