> I'd like to take this opportunity to register some *extreme* annoyance on
> the IDE patches that took place under 2.0.9 (and propogated into 2.0.10).
> ...
> ...
> ... I've never seen the FreeBSD
> folks (another example) treat something like this. Which is too bad, as I
> really like Linux (always have since .96).
Jonathan,
You must not have been reading your kernel mail! Mark Lord <mlord@pobox.com>,
who does the ide stuff, posted a patch to cmd640.c, etc., just the other day.
It *works*. If you can't wait for 2.0.11, write and ask him for a copy.
People make mistakes, even in FreeBSD. But in Linux, they get corrected NOW,
and this is because of the open communication between users and programmers,
and because the latter aren't willing to write bad code. Mark's patch, for
example, exists because several of us cmd640 folks mailed him privately
and reported our problems, then beta-tested his work.
So, try getting into the habit of mailing the authors when you encounter
problems like this one. (You don't have to be a system programmer to do
this, just an intelligent user.) You'll be much happier -- and, I bet, so
will your campus, when they hear that you're in touch with the source and
that the bug's being attended to. :-)
- Bob McCracken kerouac@ssnet.com