J_K9 @ Linux

It’s Time To Stop Playing Catch-Up: Intel, Drivers and WiMAX

November 12, 2007 on 10:05 pm | In Linux, Hardware |

Too frequently in the past has Linux had to spend months—even years—implementing support for the latest technologies for which the manufacturers have not bothered to make Linux drivers (either due to the extra costs or merely disinterest in the platform). Linux developers had to reverse engineer each technology to find out everything about it that wasn’t disclosed by the manufacturer in the hardware’s official documentation so that they could provide support for it in an Open Source driver.

Thankfully, the substantial increase in the uptake of Open Source software such as Linux, and the more widespread recognition of its huge potential as an adaptable and expandable Operating System, has attracted commercial hardware manufacturers such as Intel to the system and to the entire Open Source movement. There has been an unadvertised revolution.

Intel now contributes to many Open Source projects, including its own, and goes out of its way to make or improve Open Source drivers for its graphics and wireless chipsets, among other hardware. There are now Linux drivers, both Open and Closed Source, for hardware such as Bluetooth adapters, GPS devices, WiFi adapters and much more; in other words, the latest widespread technology.

However, the Linux driver situation has never been perfect and it still isn’t. I, personally, have had a lot of luck with my hardware, which has almost always worked out of the box with the popular Linux distributions. However, there is still a lot of hardware out there which frustrates many Linux users because there is incomplete or no hardware support for them. For example, many wireless chipsets are still not supported on Linux.

We are still playing catch-up, wasting many resources implementing support for hardware which came out years ago, something we would not need to do if hardware manufacturers had made Linux drivers or released more detailed specifications for their products. We cannot afford to do this in the future: it is simply not a viable option if Linux wishes to make it into the mainstream and be the best Operating System. Surprisingly, this may not be as difficult as it sounds.

At the moment, the most revolutionary hardware component which is set to enter most mobile media devices in the future is the WiMAX chipset. WiMAX is a wireless communication technology which will completely change mobile connectivity as we know it, allowing us to go online and keep up to date even if we’re several kilometres away from the nearest WiMAX access point. Wow.

And the best part? Intel is a huge pusher of the technology, and is/will be one of the main manufacturers of the WiMAX chipsets which will go into the latest mobile devices. Better yet, Intel plans to provide equal support for WiMAX on Linux as on Windows, and considering Intel’s large Open Source contributions portfolio I wouldn’t be surprised if they Open Source their WiMAX drivers too.

I think this is great news for Linux. This could be its first chance to support the latest technology simultaneously with its rival Operating Systems, Windows and Mac OS X, and could prove to be the catalyst for Linux’s broader adoption as the pre-installed system of choice in mobile devices such as Portable Media Players and laptops.

Who knows—will it be the Operating System powering Intel’s Moorestown PMP, a so-called “iPhone killer”? Stay tuned!

[Update: For a good summary of WiMAX, a short history and a briefing on its current state, check out BusinessWeek’s The Wizards of WiMAX slideshow. Pictures included ]