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Re: Installing Optiarc drive

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Haines Brown <haines@histomat.net> writes:
>
> But I'm still in the dark about whether a driver for this drive is being
> loaded.

If it weren't, you wouldn't be seeing the device special file.

> Incidentally, the term "driver" I believe originated with Unix in 1960s
> and by ca. 1970 was becoming a standard computer term. I don't recall
> from my VAX days whether "drivers" were involved, but I seem to remember
> that DOS used the term. Could it be that "device driver" is conventional
> (not specific to Microsoft), and "module" popped up at some point for
> some reason with Linux? I get the impression the term driver was used in
> MINIX, but I'm ignorant about such things. Did Linus T. borrow the term
> "module" from how MINIX characterized its microkernel, a technology he
> rejected?

You're right on the history of the term driver (it may well go back
earlier than that!).  It was a completely standard term when I was
writing my first device drivers in the late 1970s.  Yes, Minix also uses
the term driver, just like everybody else.

Module is also a standard term -- it just means a piece of code that is
somehow encapsulated.  Details on what somebody means by a module will
vary widely; you'll frequently see subteams on large programming
projects call their part of the project a module.  In the case of Linux,
when somebody says "module" it's short for "loadable kernel module".
-- 
Joseph J. Pfeiffer, Jr., Ph.D.               
Emeritus Professor                           
Department of Computer Science
New Mexico State University

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Installing Optiarc drive Haines Brown <haines@histomat.net> - 2012-06-28 16:37 -0400
  Re: Installing Optiarc drive J G Miller <miller@yoyo.ORG> - 2012-06-28 21:15 +0000
    Re: Installing Optiarc drive Thad Floryan <thad@thadlabs.com> - 2012-06-28 21:57 -0700
      Re: Installing Optiarc drive J G Miller <miller@yoyo.ORG> - 2012-06-29 08:57 +0000
        Re: Installing Optiarc drive Chris Davies <chris-usenet@roaima.co.uk> - 2012-06-29 10:39 +0100
          Re: Installing Optiarc drive J G Miller <miller@yoyo.ORG> - 2012-06-29 10:06 +0000
          Re: Installing Optiarc drive Joe Pfeiffer <pfeiffer@cs.nmsu.edu> - 2012-06-30 20:41 -0600
        Re: Installing Optiarc drive Richard Kettlewell <rjk@greenend.org.uk> - 2012-06-29 11:24 +0100
          Re: Installing Optiarc drive J G Miller <miller@yoyo.ORG> - 2012-06-29 12:01 +0000
    Re: Installing Optiarc drive Haines Brown <haines@histomat.net> - 2012-06-29 06:26 -0400
      Re: Installing Optiarc drive Joe Pfeiffer <pfeiffer@cs.nmsu.edu> - 2012-06-30 20:53 -0600
        Re: Installing Optiarc drive Haines Brown <haines@histomat.net> - 2012-07-01 17:57 -0400
    Re: Installing Optiarc drive Haines Brown <haines@histomat.net> - 2012-06-29 07:37 -0400
      Re: Installing Optiarc drive J G Miller <miller@yoyo.ORG> - 2012-06-29 12:40 +0000
        Re: Installing Optiarc drive Haines Brown <haines@histomat.net> - 2012-07-01 18:04 -0400
          Re: Installing Optiarc drive J G Miller <miller@yoyo.ORG> - 2012-07-01 22:57 +0000
      Re: Installing Optiarc drive "David W. Hodgins" <dwhodgins@nomail.afraid.org> - 2012-06-29 17:16 -0400
        Re: Installing Optiarc drive Haines Brown <haines@histomat.net> - 2012-07-01 18:57 -0400
          Re: Installing Optiarc drive J G Miller <miller@yoyo.ORG> - 2012-07-02 09:32 +0000
            Re: Installing Optiarc drive Haines Brown <haines@histomat.net> - 2012-07-02 10:44 -0400
              Re: Installing Optiarc drive J G Miller <miller@yoyo.ORG> - 2012-07-02 15:44 +0000
                Re: Installing Optiarc drive Haines Brown <haines@histomat.net> - 2012-07-04 12:38 -0400
                Re: Installing Optiarc drive J G Miller <miller@yoyo.ORG> - 2012-07-04 16:52 +0000
      Re: Installing Optiarc drive Joe Pfeiffer <pfeiffer@cs.nmsu.edu> - 2012-06-30 20:59 -0600
  Re: Installing Optiarc drive Joe Pfeiffer <pfeiffer@cs.nmsu.edu> - 2012-06-30 20:49 -0600

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