Novell hastens driver updates

Addresses user complaints on late driver delivery for newly arrived hardware.

Linux giant Novell is to speed up the development and distribution of new and updated device drivers for its Suse Linux Enterprise products.

The move should tackle two long-standing problems for users. First, in the past many complained that obtaining drivers for newly developed hardware sometimes took a long time. Second, upgrades to the Linux kernel sometimes require Linux device drivers to be updated. This led to some firms not applying critical kernel security patches for fear of breaking their device driver compatibility.

Novell’s move adds new functionality to the open-source Yast server administration tool.

Yast now links kernel updates with device drivers, and can download updated drivers from third-party web sites if they are required for a kernel upgrade.