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    Modules can be filesystems, network protocols, firewall functionalities, and a lot more. Some hardware (e.g. WiFi cards) require a stack of modules, some offering general infrastructure while others handle the hardware itself. Commented Dec 30, 2015 at 14:48
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    This is a good general outline, but I had exactly the same question as the OP, then came across this answer and still did not know why the "driver in use" is different from the "modules". In contrast, @Jim Paris's answer is correct. From man lspci: " -k Show kernel drivers handling each device and also kernel modules capable of handling it." You could read that as: "Show the driver currently / actually handling the device and also all modules which could / are meant to handle it". Commented Dec 27, 2017 at 16:38
  • If you know windows: A module is very similar to a DLL. On unix, a module is similar to a shared object, but a module is just for the kernel. A dynamically linked module can contain drivers. A kernel can contain statically linked drivers. A module is different from a DLL (or .so) because the kernel has specific requirements for how things get dynamically loaded. Commented May 14, 2019 at 22:41