[ros-kernel] generic tape backup drivers (travan)

[Vizzini]

On Wed, 2004-01-21 at 18:44, correasilva at tugamail.com wrote:
> I don't know how close to this mailing list content
> talking about open-source drivers for ReactOS and
> windows32 

This is the right spot.

> My question is how far we can port Linux open-source
> drivers to windowsnt (or making drivers from enough
> techical documentation) 

Well, it depends on the kind of driver, but in general, linux drivers
can be helpful but not directly ported.  The windows i/o model is very
different.  Linux drivers can be very useful as an implementation guide,
however, and we refer to them regularly.

> Maybe most of you may talk about ''providing drivers are
> manufacturer business, and we don't need to care about
> having open-source drivers for ReactOS and windows32'' 

Not true at all; ReactOS has to be useful out of the box, and that
requires drivers.  We may, at some point, try to get manufacturers to
allow us to ship their drivers, but Microsoft will never allow us to
ship their drivers, so we need replacements for those in any case. 
Also, for those that believe in free software, having our own drivers is
a Good Thing anyway, as most manufacturers don't open their source. 

> The problem is close to the surely at least one of you
> may had too: manufacturer drivers lacking on quality,
> and some times even like just not existing 

These are problems as well, but they're more frequently encountered on
the Linux side than Windows, unless your hardware is very old or very
rare.

> A good example: Hp T1000 Travan tape backup for
> windowsnt simply doesn't exist (the only available are
> for w95/98 and nt3.5, which ones doesn't exist for nt4
> or more recent) 
> 
> My question is also if someone here is caring about
> making drivers for it (are generic possible?), beign
> both reactos and windowsnt compatible   (maybe reactos
> code contributors used to work with windowsnt servers
> would care about it) 

This sounds like a good project.  There are many sample drivers in our
tree that someone could start with, and I believe there was even a DDK
sample for a tape drive at one point, which may be helpful.

This sounds like a good project to get started in ReactOS development,
if you're interested.

 -Vizzini