Binary-only Linux drivers will never work for the majority of Linux users, Harald Welte told hardware developers at a Taipei conference. The Linux kernel's lack of an ABI and intentional lack of stable APIs make binary drivers a losing battle purely for technical reasons, he suggests.

Binary kernel modules have long inspired legal, philosophical, and even moral debate in the community. However, Welte focuses only on technical reasons to avoid binary drivers. Instead, companies should work with the Linux kernel developer community, through resources such as the Linux embedded mailing list.

Welte explained that unlike some OSes, the Linux kernel offers no ABI (application binary interface) for external binary modules. So, there is not really any way for a driver to exist outside of the kernel.

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