Dave H wrote:
> As Ron says, the problem with TBS is that TBS don't write drivers to the standard required to be mainlined into the kernel. So as he says, every kernel update is a real kerfuffle. I have a DVB-T2 one but I've recently bought the Hauppauge quad tuner board to replace it because of this problem. But installing that requires reconfiguring my hardware and then the possibility of some software SNAFU so I haven't done that yet either :(
>
> As Jonas said I'm one of those who "just want a working solution they can install" and any change means hassle!
Ron didn't say anything about the quality of TBS drivers. TBS devices work fine and the drivers are good. When Bugs are found the TBS developers are very engaging and the bugs get fixed.
I believe both Hauppauge and Digital Devices drivers are also developed in house, but for some reason they are pulled into mainline. It's not about quality of drivers it's about linuxtv politics.
I have one TBS DVB-S2 tuner. It works perfectly and runs in a system that is up 24/7.
I have two other devices that are supported by linuxtv drivers in mainline kernel. Both have buggy drivers that make the device unusable that are developed by someone who sends all bug reports to /dev/null. One still sits on the shelf unusable. The other I found a patch that fixes the device but was refused by mainline linuxtv. I've been patching that device myself for 10 years or more now as did everyone else I knew who owned one. Last time I tested unpatched mainline driver it now actually locks my machine up tight requiring a push of the reset button. Because I have both this device and TBS device I brought up the issue with TBSDTV opensource. Crazycat applied 10 year old patch finally fixing the device.
When I read someone say TBS drivers are not up to the standard required to be in mainline kernel I laugh out loud at you. TBS drivers are a pain to install because mainline won't pull them, but if you want a device that otherwise has excellent Linux support and has developers that actually read bug reports and actually work with you to fix bugs then TBS is probably the best choice.
