Timeline for Why Linux module API isn't backward compatible?
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
10 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Aug 19, 2020 at 19:51 | comment | added | Philip Couling | +1 What I love about this answer is how it practically shows why an internal model change will ultimately force an API to change irrespective of the desires of the developers. It also highlights the point that the biggest bugbear in open source API changes is the friction between open source and closed proprietary code. | |
| Aug 19, 2020 at 18:41 | comment | added | Artem S. Tashkinov | Statically compiled binaries are a way to go, right. What other brilliant ideas do you have? | |
| Aug 19, 2020 at 17:48 | comment | added | Oskar Skog | @ArtemS.Tashkinov: What does user space have to do with anything? I thought Linus refuses to break use space, ie. software compiled for Linux back in 1991 (that don't depend on user space libraries) should still work. And isn't the 2.6 kernel a heck of a lot older than 3 to 5 years. | |
| Aug 19, 2020 at 17:35 | history | edited | telcoM | CC BY-SA 4.0 | added 2154 characters in body |
| Aug 19, 2020 at 15:10 | comment | added | Artem S. Tashkinov | The Linux kernel APIs - never. Keep an eye on Google Fuchsia/Zircon - it's going to be an open source OS/kernel with stable APIs/ABIs. Google really wants to get rid of the Linux kernel to solve Android update issues once and for all. | |
| Aug 19, 2020 at 15:07 | comment | added | Akib Azmain Turja | @ArtemS.Tashkinov Will ever Linux API be stable? | |
| Aug 19, 2020 at 15:00 | comment | added | Artem S. Tashkinov | Oh, and this is not an answer either. It's a historical perspective on some changes. Meanwhile Microsoft managed to add transient execution CPU vulnerabilities protections in their kernels while preserving driver APIs/ABIs across Windows 7/8/10 which means it's not impossible. Oh, and Google has done the same for the Android Linux kernel fork. Oh, and even RedHat has done the same as well. | |
| Aug 19, 2020 at 14:56 | comment | added | Akib Azmain Turja | @ArtemS.Tashkinov You are right. Linux API changes too often. | |
| Aug 19, 2020 at 14:29 | comment | added | Artem S. Tashkinov | Thank you for the history tidbits but you describe individual major kernel API changes when in fact minor compatibility-breaking API changes are introduced many times every year and you don't really answer the question as to why they are so frequent and disruptive. It's not impossible to maintain driver API compatibility for at least three to five years like it's done in proprietary OS'es. In terms of user-space it's even more depressing: most 32bit applications from Windows 95 still work in Windows 2010 25 years after they were written. Linux is nowhere near that level. | |
| Aug 19, 2020 at 14:11 | history | answered | telcoM | CC BY-SA 4.0 |