- Where to find a list of device drivers supported by linux?
- 3 Answers 3
- Software supported by linux
- Audio-Video Servers
- Chat Servers
- List Servers
- Mail Servers
- News Servers
- More Information (for download):
- Hardware Devices that Support GNU/Linux
- Further hardware resources
- Hardware Devices that Support GNU/Linux
- Further hardware resources
Where to find a list of device drivers supported by linux?
I have read here that linux supports a large number of device drivers and by extension, it also supports a large number of devices connected via the USB port. Excerpt from that site:
Linux today supports more hardware devices than any other operating system in the history of the world. It does this using a development model significantly different from the familiar Windows device driver model.
Is there a list of all the different devices which are supported by linux ? and/or list of devices which are connected via USB and supported by linux`? This is different from just finding out which device drivers are currently supported in a given distribution by using the commands lsmod , lspci and dmesg | grep
@MarkPlotnick, that is not what I meant. I meant, if a certain device is not supported by the kernel, should I then look for driver modules from the manufacturer of the device, or should I consider writing my own device driver? So, if there was a list, then it would help a developer know whether he has to write his own driver or if the kernel itself provided it
3 Answers 3
The lspci and lsusb commands just enumerates the devices connected to particular buses. They read id from the bus and use special file to map this ids to strings.
The lsmod showns just list of linux kernel modules. Linux kernel module is part of linux kernel code which is loaded dynamically — this modules are not necessary drivers, it may be just any part of the kernel code. This mechanism is used to save memory and boot time and do not load all code on boot, to make kernel development easier (you can unload/modify/load parts of the kernel). As the device driver is one of good applications of this dynamic loading — it is used in most drivers. The non-driver example is iptables (the network filtering mechanism) there only parts are loaded which are actually requested by user.
The dmesg is just a kernel text log — usually developer white something there in case of initialization, but this is entirely voluntary — so what you find there and which format is completely random.
Complete lists of the supported hardware is hard thing to get. Kernel consists of very different parts made by different people and there is a lot of similar devices with different labels.
Usually you can try to find if your device is supported on dedicated pages:
- supported printers are on the linux printer database http://www.openprinting.org/printers
- scanners are are sane page
- video card on http://www.x.org/wiki/Projects/Drivers/
- and so on
This is mainly because most things require not just kernel driver by also kind of userspace layer and there is kind of ‘project’ which does both parts with main interface in userspace.
Most advanced list of the supported may be extracted from kernel code — there is usually list of pci/usb ids supported for each particular drivers — there is a way to extract it: http://www.cyberciti.biz/tips/linux-find-supported-pci-hardware-drivers.html. But if you have kernel module which has an ID in the list doesn’t mean that device is fully supported or that you have userspace tools which allow you to use this module, or that this userspace tools exist in your particular distribution.
Sometimes distribution vendors provide list of supported devices, but this is usually some small subset.
For debian there is also list of pciid->kernel module mappings: https://wiki.debian.org/DeviceDatabase/PCI.
Regarding usb devices, many things like cameras have kind of userspace drivers via libusb — like cameras or so no. In such case you have no need in kernel driver at all.
Also, don’t forget that linux runs on near 20 architectures (imagine how many drivers are in billions of different android smart-phones), each with own huge set of drivers — and you’ll see that total amount will easily beat every other knows OS.
Software supported by linux
The Harvest Information Discovery and Access System
Information Page SURFnet Web Caching : http://www.surfnet.nl/
Audio-Video Servers
Chat Servers
List Servers
A list server (mailing list server) is a program that handles subscription requests for a mailing list and distributes new messages, newsletters, or other postings from the list’s members to the entire list of subscribers as they occur or are scheduled. (A list server should not be confused with a mail server, which handles incoming and outgoing e-mail for Internet users.)
| Listserv, |
| Listserv Lite, |
| Lyris, http://www.lyris.com/ |
| Majordomo ftp://ftp.greatcircle.com/pub/majordomo/ (FAQ: http://www.visi.com/~barr/majordomo-faq.html) |
| listTool.com ( http://www.listtool.com/) is a free tool that makes the process of subscribing, unsubscribing and sending commands to 818 mailing and discussion lists. |
Mail Servers
| CommuniGate Pro, http://www.stalker.com/CommuniGatePro/ |
| DMail Server, http://netwinsite.com/dmail/ (Download: http://www.supermail.cz/24f_dokumentace/download.htm) |
| sendmail http://www.sendmail.com/ |
News Servers
More Information (for download):
| Serverwatch : http://serverwatch.internet.com/ |
| The Netcraft Web Server Survey : http://www.netcraft.com/survey/ |
| FileDrive, http://www.differential.com/.a suite of secure and extensible high-performance FTP file transfer client/server software. |
| Cybernet Systems produces the NetMAX line of Thin Servers and Professional Products. The Thin Server Series consists of the FireWall (with Router), WebServer (with email and FTP) and FileServer (with print sharing). The NetMAX Professional contains these three as well as the Discussion Group/NewsServer, dial in capabilities, enhanced system management and reporting functions, expanded support and more. http://www.netmax.com/ (Linux, |
Hardware Devices that Support GNU/Linux
Knowing which hardware devices support GNU/Linux is important not only for practical reasons — you want your hardware to work with the software that you want to use — but also for ethical and political reasons.
You can help the free software movement by purchasing hardware from manufacturers who support our goals and not purchasing from those who don’t.
For example: the Free Software Foundation only purchases desktop machines which support Libreboot, and Thinkpad X200 and X60 laptops with Libreboot. All desktops and servers we buy are KGPE-D16 motherboards, which are supported by Libreboot. As a result, all of the workstations used by the FSF staff have a free BIOS. Where support for a free BIOS is not yet possible, or is limited, some companies have made the decision to sell computers running fully-free distributions of the GNU/Linux operating system.
Further hardware resources
To purchase new hardware that is supported without the need for proprietary drivers or firmware, check the following resources:
- H-Node is a directory of hardware that is supported by the Free Software Foundation’s recommended list of GNU/Linux distributions. Many common distributions are not on this list, although the hardware should still be supported.
- The FSF has an endorsement program for devices that use 100% free software. Such a device Respects Your Freedom. Check here first to find hardware that is good to buy. You can learn about the certification requirements for the Respects Your Freedom program here.
- If you’re looking for a single-board computer (SBC) that supports free software, read this article about the SBCs available today. Some have workarounds, but some are fatally flawed and none are fully free.
- Our Respects Your Freedom (RYF) certified products page lists products certified by the FSF to do as much as possible to respect your freedom and your privacy, and ensure that you have control over your device. You can find a list of motherboards that use 100% free boot firmware, with no blobs, here. For those that require nonfree microcode blobs, see coreboot.org.
- The Libreplanet wiki collects information about plug computers, which are power-efficient computers in compact cases. A list of plug computers that have been evaluated for compatibility with free software can be found here.
Hardware Devices that Support GNU/Linux
Knowing which hardware devices support GNU/Linux is important not only for practical reasons — you want your hardware to work with the software that you want to use — but also for ethical and political reasons.
You can help the free software movement by purchasing hardware from manufacturers who support our goals and not purchasing from those who don’t.
For example: the Free Software Foundation only purchases desktop machines which support Libreboot, and Thinkpad X200 and X60 laptops with Libreboot. All desktops and servers we buy are KGPE-D16 motherboards, which are supported by Libreboot. As a result, all of the workstations used by the FSF staff have a free BIOS. Where support for a free BIOS is not yet possible, or is limited, some companies have made the decision to sell computers running fully-free distributions of the GNU/Linux operating system.
Further hardware resources
To purchase new hardware that is supported without the need for proprietary drivers or firmware, check the following resources:
- H-Node is a directory of hardware that is supported by the Free Software Foundation’s recommended list of GNU/Linux distributions. Many common distributions are not on this list, although the hardware should still be supported.
- The FSF has an endorsement program for devices that use 100% free software. Such a device Respects Your Freedom. Check here first to find hardware that is good to buy. You can learn about the certification requirements for the Respects Your Freedom program here.
- If you’re looking for a single-board computer (SBC) that supports free software, read this article about the SBCs available today. Some have workarounds, but some are fatally flawed and none are fully free.
- Our Respects Your Freedom (RYF) certified products page lists products certified by the FSF to do as much as possible to respect your freedom and your privacy, and ensure that you have control over your device. You can find a list of motherboards that use 100% free boot firmware, with no blobs, here. For those that require nonfree microcode blobs, see coreboot.org.
- The Libreplanet wiki collects information about plug computers, which are power-efficient computers in compact cases. A list of plug computers that have been evaluated for compatibility with free software can be found here.