Linux GPIB Drivers Declared Stable 53 Years After HP Introduced the Bus
3 days ago
- #Raspberry Pi
- #Linux
- #GPIB
- GPIB drivers, introduced by HP in 1972, have been declared stable in the Linux kernel after 53 years.
- The drivers were initially merged into the kernel's staging area last year and have now been promoted to the mainline kernel in Linux 6.19.
- GPIB is an 8 Mbyte/s parallel bus used for lab equipment, now considered obsolete due to USB, Firewire, and Ethernet.
- The staging area in the Linux kernel serves as a proving ground for code before it is formally maintained in the mainline kernel.
- Vintage hardware enthusiasts previously maintained GPIB drivers out-of-tree, with some code still available for older 2.4.x kernels.
- The VCHIQ interface for Raspberry Pi has also been cleaned up and moved into the mainline kernel, improving support for Raspberry Pi peripherals.
- Greg Kroah-Hartman highlighted the move of GPIB and VCHIQ out of staging as a significant update for Linux 6.19.