Path: utzoo!utgpu!cunews!bnrgate!brtph3!brchh104!brchs1!bnr.ca!rice.edu!sun-spots-request
From: don@andante.att.com (Don Mitchell)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.sun
Subject: Device Driver Stability
Keywords: SunOS
Message-ID: <1075@brchh104.bnr.ca>
Date: 5 Jan 91 22:24:57 GMT
Sender: news@brchh104.bnr.ca
Organization: Sun-Spots
Lines: 12
Approved: Sun-Spots@rice.edu
X-Sun-Spots-Digest: Volume 10, Issue 7, message 7
X-Note: Submissions: sun-spots@rice.edu, Admin: sun-spots-request@rice.edu

Our center's computing environment is primarily based on SUN's, and we use
many of them to support laboratory equipment.  I am very annoyed by the
fact that the device driver interface seems to change in every point
release (4.0, 4.0.3, 4.1 ...).  This is a major problem for some of us.
We have to support scanners, GPIB devices of various sorts, DR11 devices,
and strange frame buffers.  A lot of these guys don't keep up with current
SunOS very fast, but I think SUN must be blamed for gratuitous changes to
the kernel in this area.

If it were some other workstation, I wouldn't even bother to complain.
But Sun seems committed to open systems and good support for UNIX.  I hope
they will keep our plight in mind.