hello all
before i start, just have in mind i am not yet a linux user (yes i tried alot of distros last year in VM)

my question this time, is how does Linux/distros "use" drivers ?

example on Windows, for lets say GPU and MBO/Chipset drivers exist for maybe
2 or 3 generations (if it worked on Vista then it worked on 7 and 8)
but then they drop support and you're FUBAR

so basically if i have hardware from certain "OS version" era it will
work on next 2 OS versions

but what about Linux ?
if i switch to linux with my ~12-15 old machine, how does Linux handle this ?
because on Windows with generic drivers you can't do anything, it is just barebones just so much you can get things running

i doubt Linux is saving so many manufacturers for so many HW components
for so long, yet it is always praised that Linux can run on any PC

so how does that work then ?

Drivers for nearly all hardware devices are part of the kernel. Run "lsmod" to see a list of loaded kernel modules.

Being open-source, the drivers can be maintained by anyone with sufficient motivation. Linux supports hardware devices for a *very* long time (long after the hardware manufacturer has lost interest or even ceased to exist).

Some hardware devices (i.e. Nvidia) use closed-source drivers. Those have the same problems as on Windows.
Ed

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Hi, an assortment of modules are provided in the kernel.

what may suffer most is proprietary software for graphics cards (mostly).

Both proprietary and windows are capitalist and force users to spend more on hardware to stay current.

So, if you have a 12yo nVidia graphics card it may be difficult to use all the power it may have provided a new system.

You might want to research that before you go too far.

I'd advise you start that machine with a live-distro, like Devuan :-) and see how it handles your older hardware.

See how you go.

1 members found this post helpful.

Most drivers (and that would certainly include motherboard and chipset drivers) are in the kernel. The kernel never drops support for anything.

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vinifera,

Decent support via the kernel means that you are probably worrying unnecessarily as others have pointed out above.

What is the make and model number of your computer?

Also, how much RAM and what CPU do you have?

well (for now) i have:

CPU: Phenom II X4 945
MBO: Gigabyte GA-MA785GT-UD3H
RAM: 8 GB DDR3
VGA: nVidia Leadtek GTX 550 Ti

my idea was that within 3-4 year i jump onto probably Linux Mint(xfce) or some KDE distro
but the driver confusion was my problem, and thank you for all your answers !

1 sub-question, does driver support depend on distro or is it "universal" ?

You shouldn't have any problems, even with modern Linux. I had that setup, minus the GPU (I had Radeon). The NIC is probably something common. The kernel, which is bringing the drivers, is common to all although some distros might patch/change it slightly. You can also build your own if something is missing.

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The support is "universal" in the sense that the driver will work on all distributions. It is not universal in the sense that the distributions' policy on providing non-free software in their repositories varies from distribution to distribution.

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allow me to bump this topic, not to spam new one...
simmiliar question, but regarding software

a pure example, lets say i install a L-mint (doesn't matter which DE), and i download current Firefox
which i guess is somewhere at version 119 (at least for windows),
and 5 years passes by, or even 7 years, and i am still on same Mint version with same kernel,
but now i wish to download latest Firefox.

how does Linux "in general", approach this issue ?
for example on, windows, the developers (mozilla) they kill off support for older windows, forcing you to install newest OS ver.
does on Linux same thing happen, as in when repository app detects older kernel, it refuses to update your software
or because its portability (gtk, qt) these problems don't exist ?

the update depends on a lot of things. All distributions have their own repositories and (as long as they are supported) you can just update them using their package management tool.
But you may run into difficulties if you want to upgrade a distro that has already reached the end of its life.
It is neither about the kernel, nor about compatibility or portability, but security.
Software, like firefox usually depends on newest version of some libraries (network related for example), so in most cases if you want the newest firefox, you need to upgrade your system to support it (or use an appimage or similar solution).
And usually a 5 year old distro is outdated and insecure, many vulnerabilities have been patched since then, you definitely need to update.

What pan64 said goes for most applications. But I believe that Firefox is a special case in that you can download it from Mozilla with bundled-in libraries rather than using your system libraries.

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vinifera,

Just to add that with your Nvidia GTX 550 Ti, you will need Linux driver 390.157 or similar:
https://www.nvidia.com/Download/driv.../196213/en-us/

Of course, within your anticipated 3 to 4 year time frame before installing Linux Mint Xfce, it is possible that the above proprietary driver may become unsupported.

Once LM has been installed you may need to use the nomodeset boot option in order to avoid a black screen upon rebooting:
https://linuxmint-installation-guide...t_options.html

To make this boot option permanent, you will also need to modify the /etc/default/grub file.

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oh no ...
but didn't alot of people above write that drivers for linux were ... forever ?

Those that are part of the kernel tree do indeed last forever because the kernel hackers maintain them. But proprietary Linux drivers like the nVidia ones last only as long as the manufacturers support them.

so basically people like me are screwed either way, be it on WinOS or Linux