Re: Adding a 2724 Token Ring IOA to an 800 fails

On Thu, Dec 26, 2019 at 11:47:42PM +0100, Patrik Schindler wrote:

Hello Kevin,

Am 26.12.2019 um 21:51 schrieb Kevin Monceaux <Kevin@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>:

I don't think loadable kernel modules were added to Linux until the 2.x
kernel version, but I'm having trouble finding confirmation of that. I
think I started using Linux somewhere around the mid '90s. Whenever it was
that I started with Linux, there were no loadable kernel modules. The
kernel had to be recompiled to add and/or remove various drivers.

You got me doubting. :-) For verification, I just booted up an old 386
with Debian 2.1, utilizing Kernel 2.0.38, and /lib/modules already
contains modules. So, your claim is wrong.

I claimed that I thought that loadable kernel modules were **added** to
Linux somewhere around the 2.x kernel version. How does finding a
/lib/modules directory on a distribution with a 2.0.38 kernel prove that
that is wrong?

I also have myself doubting. After some memory jogging, I think I might
have started using Linux somewhere in the 0.9x kernel era. I stared with
Slackware on a 486 SX 20 MHz PC. Maybe kernel modules were added in the 1.x
kernel era. I know there were no loadable kernel modules when I first
started using Linux.

It looks like the first two Slackware releases in '93 had kernel versions
0.99.11 Alpha and 0.99.13. Slackware 2.0 released in '94 had kernel version
1.0.9. It would be interesting to find some hardware or an emulator that
could run those early Slackware releases. Ah, the memories.