Re: lcs ethernet driver source

["Ulrich Weigand" <Ulrich.Weigand@de.ibm.com>]

David Woodhouse wrote:

>Erm, Linux on S/390 runs as a virtual machine, doesn't it? Does a lack of
>network drivers not render it completely useless?

Well, you're right that without network connection, there's not much
useful you can do.  However, LCS and QETH are not the only options;
you can also use a CTC or IUCV network interface (and those drivers *are*
open source and in the tree); there's also a third-party open source driver
to access CLAW network devices (not in the official tree, but e.g. part of
the SuSE kernel).

Especially in a virtual machine, you can simply define a virtual CTC or
IUCV
connection and access your network via those devices.

If you are running Linux native on the S/390 (not in a virtual machine)
and have *only* physical LCS or QETH devices, you must use the binary-only
modules; but this doesn't appear to be fundamentally different from other
devices where only binary drivers exist ...


Mit freundlichen Gruessen / Best Regards

Ulrich Weigand

--
  Dr. Ulrich Weigand
  Linux for S/390 Design & Development
  IBM Deutschland Entwicklung GmbH, Schoenaicher Str. 220, 71032 Boeblingen
  Phone: +49-7031/16-3727   ---   Email: Ulrich.Weigand@de.ibm.com