08/03/2006 1:34:30 AM PDT
· 9 of 23 too short
to HAL9000; Swordmaker
The main problem here is that device drivers are a funny mix of stuff put together by hardware and software developers, and these guys are often under the gun to produce the code that will power products that the manufacturer is often in a hurry to get to market." ... Namely, that wireless device drivers are largely developed and written by an odd mix of hardware and software developers in an environment where time-to-market often trumps any thorough code review for potential security flaws."
Most linux drivers are written from scratch (although are some exceptions in which the manufacturer releases drivers, or linux uses emulated windows drivers, which is probably why the other article mentions linux) by hundreds of people around the world and thus don't have the problem of being thrown together at the last minute. Furthermore, due to their open source nature, they are subject to constant scrutiny and revision.
It interesting how many liberal arts classes engineering majors have to take, and how few science classes liberal arts majors have to take.
I need about 5 liberal arts classes, while liberal arts majors need 2 science classes (which can be fulfilled by pseudo science classes such as environmental studies, a surfing class or anthropology).
My university (university of california) requires we take one "American Instiutions" requirement. I fullfilled it with two classes - a black studies one, and an actual american history class (although we concentrated on minorities, socialism, communism, the struggle of women, etc.)