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Linux's Sole Wireless/WiFi Driver Maintainer Is Stepping Down (www.phoronix.com)
submitted 3 weeks ago by cm0002@lemmy.world to c/linux@programming.dev
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[-] otter@lemmy.ca 141 points 3 weeks ago

Wireless is just a fad anyway /s

Many expressed their appreciation for Kalle's years of service to the Linux networking stack but as of writing no one has stepped up to take over the formal maintainer role. Thankfully there are other Linux WiFi driver developers out there working on the increasing number of Linux wireless drivers, just not any immediate leader yet to take on the maintainer duties.

Good to know :)

While I didn't use Linux back then, I heard the wifi situation was difficult to deal with. I assume this maintainer is responsible for fixing that over the years?

[-] cm0002@lemmy.world 91 points 3 weeks ago

I heard the wifi situation was difficult to deal with

Understatement of the year LMAO nah it was terrible. Typically the top 3 biggest PITA common issues was GPU, WiFi and trackpad, in that order. Every. Time. Didn't have the right brand, you were SOL. If you had a Dell with that wonderful WiFi card whitelist the damn brands that worked were always off it or were crappy.

Though I'd take WiFi driver issues over having to deal with that dam GPU bumble bee-thingy (idr anymore, the gaming laptop GPU "hot switching" thing)

I'm going to go lay down and have my trauma flashbacks now...

[-] boonhet@lemm.ee 21 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

bumble-bee thingy

I was going to say wrong transformer because the technology was called nVidia Optimus

But apparently there's an utility named Bumblebee to deal with it.

[-] Kazumara@discuss.tchncs.de 13 points 3 weeks ago

Haha there is no way that's accidental, typical nerd naming, I love it

[-] henfredemars@infosec.pub 2 points 2 weeks ago

Oh my gosh I'm so dumb. I've read the name of that tool dozens of times and never made the connection until now.

[-] Aghast@lemmy.world 11 points 3 weeks ago

I think he was referring to the GPU switching software to make Optimus work on Linux.

https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Bumblebee

[-] AnUnusualRelic@lemmy.world 13 points 3 weeks ago

It's what happens when all the desktop hardware is designed for just one single OS's ecosystem. Running something else can be touch and go if you happen to have something slightly exotic, even if it has great specs.

It sucks, but it's still how the market works now.

And don't think that the few little companies selling Linux computers change anything. They just hand pick the Windows hardware that's known to work well.

All in all, it has gotten better though. Nowadays, Linux is acknowledged by a lot of hardware companies. They design for Windows, but a number of them will make an effort to release some sort of data, or driver, or something to get the Linux side going. Back in the 90s, it certainly wasn't as easy.

[-] RememberTheApollo_@lemmy.world 8 points 3 weeks ago

Sound, too, if you have anything better than just stereo.

[-] edg@lemmy.world 3 points 3 weeks ago

Just getting audio period was a pain in the ass for me in the early to mid 2000's

[-] spooky2092@lemmy.blahaj.zone 6 points 3 weeks ago

Typically the top 3 biggest PITA common issues was GPU, WiFi and trackpad, in that order. Every. Time.

Nvidia drivers are literally the reason I keep going back to windows on my gaming rig. Any time I get a Linux install working the way I like it, within 6-10 months the graphics would shit the bed and I'd fight with it until I gave up and went back just to have a working is with minimal after work IT bullshit.

All my servers are Linux tho. I'll probably try again later in the year when 10 goes EOS

[-] Kazumara@discuss.tchncs.de 10 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

Not saying you need to do this, especially if you do 4K, but my solution was just buying AMD GPUs. I'm on a Radeon RX 6800 now (RX 580 before) and things are just so nice and easy with my dual-boot.

[-] chunkystyles@sopuli.xyz 9 points 3 weeks ago

If I had to give up either Linux or Nvidia, it's not even a question. It's Nvidia, and it's not even close.

I sold my 3070 and bought a 7800xt just so I could have a smoother experience, and I wasn't even having issues.

[-] UpperBroccoli@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 points 3 weeks ago

To be honest, wireless support in Windows has been shite, too. Terrible, unusable junk. Difference is that Linux has improved ๐Ÿ™ƒ

[-] swizzlestick@lemmy.zip 36 points 3 weeks ago

Back in the day it just worked because you bought a card with a supported chip.... or you had to do some ungodly things with ndiswrapper to get the Windows driver loaded.

I think back then I was using wicd as well.

It's come a long way.

[-] hera@feddit.uk 18 points 3 weeks ago

Omfg I remember ndiswrapper, how the fuck did that thing even work. Loading a windows driver on Linux???

[-] bitchkat@lemmy.world 21 points 3 weeks ago

ndiswrapper shudder

[-] kalpol@lemmy.world 2 points 3 weeks ago

Worked tho

[-] bitchkat@lemmy.world 6 points 3 weeks ago

Usually after lots of arguing and crying. But I wouldn't have had wifi on my first laptop without it.

[-] ryannathans@aussie.zone 11 points 3 weeks ago

Dw the WiFi situation on FreeBSD is far worse

[-] dharmacurious@slrpnk.net 27 points 3 weeks ago

Okay, someone talk me down from the ledge here. I'm not techy, but I've been on Fedora for over a year, and dual booting since like 08. But the biggest hurdle back in the day for me was that my wifi was so hit or miss, even when it worked it was slow as shit. That and Netflix not working are what kept me from going full Ubuntu in like 09/10.

Am I going to have to go back to long ass Ethernet cords? Fuck, my laptop doesn't even have an Ethernet port :(

[-] BradleyUffner@lemmy.world 33 points 3 weeks ago

It's not like the driver is going to stop working.

[-] Kbobabob@lemmy.world 2 points 3 weeks ago

Even if the OS gets updated?

[-] BradleyUffner@lemmy.world 5 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

If the ABI changes, it'll break. I was mainly addressing the "on a ledge" part of the comment, where they seemed to be talking much more short term.

[-] Sanguine@lemmy.world 26 points 3 weeks ago

Dude chill it'll be fine. Why are you on the ledge after this post? Someone is obviously going to step up and take their place.

[-] Tgo_up@lemm.ee 25 points 3 weeks ago

That's not obvious at all..

Maybe it is to people who are really deep into the Linux world but generally if there's only a single person in the world doing something, it's never obvious that someone else will start to do that if the first person stops.

[-] Sanguine@lemmy.world 25 points 3 weeks ago

Its pretty obvious that the folks at Linux aren't going to just say fuck the WiFi stack because the current sole maintainer is stepping down.

Also, it being a sole maintainer doesn't mean no one else would could do it.. Its probably a job that this person was able to handle solo and now that the position has become vacant, another will step in.

If this was some small niche I can understand the concern about the potential of having it go unfilled but WiFi / wireless is crucial.

[-] towerful@programming.dev 21 points 3 weeks ago

Likely sole maintainer, not sole contributor

[-] Tgo_up@lemm.ee 2 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

I don't know enough to be able to say how easy it is to take over, but having been done by a single person could mean that no one else has the skills or the interest to do it, or maybe to do it as well as the original person.

I can definitely see why it could make a Linux user worried.

[-] elephantgrenades@midwest.social 16 points 3 weeks ago

I know not all hardware is created equal, but my two cents are now that Valve has planted themselves squarely In the mobile Linux world, they'll continue to pace the way on innovation and I wouldn't be surprised if larger organizations continue to drive improvement. There's no way they would just let that die. Linux gaming is going to have staying power.

[-] mogranja@lemmy.eco.br 2 points 3 weeks ago

That's what I think as well. Fingers crossed!

this post was submitted on 31 Jan 2025
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