Proprietary Devices

Sommige apparaten aangesloten op de computer kunnen niet-vrije stuurprogramma's nodig hebben om goed te kunnen werken. Meestal gaat het om apparaten voor video en draadloos netwerken.

Een niet-vrij stuurprogramma is een softwareprogramma voor hardwarebeheer dat niet-vrij en niet-opensource is. De software is geheim en wordt beheerd door het bedrijf dat de hardware verkoopt.

Most of the devices (hardware) attached to computers should function properly in Kubuntu. The devices are likely to have free drivers. These drivers can be freely modified by developers, and any problems or incompatibilities with Linux can be fixed.

Some hardware does not have free drivers, usually because the hardware manufacturer has not released details of their hardware which would make it possible to create such a driver for a Linux system. If such a manufacturer has not created Linux drivers, the hardware may have limited functionality or may not work at all.

If an appropriate proprietary driver is available for a certain device, it can be installed in order to allow that device to function properly or to add new features. For example, installing proprietary drivers for certain graphics cards allows for the use of advanced visual effects.

Some computers may not have any devices that can use proprietary drivers, either because all of the devices are fully supported by free drivers or because proprietary drivers are not yet available.

Caution

Proprietary drivers are usually maintained by the hardware manufacturer, and so cannot be modified by developers if there is a problem.

Managing proprietary drivers

Kubuntu ships with an application developed by Ubuntu developers that maintains proprietary drivers. This application is known as Jockey and in Kubuntu is named jockey-kde >. It can be opened by going to Kickoff Application LauncherApplicationsSystemHardware Deivers.

Procedure 1. To use a proprietary driver for a device:

  1. Open Jockey by going to Kickoff Application LauncherApplicationsSystemHardware Deivers.

  2. Find the driver to be enabled and verify the description.

  3. Press Activate to enable the driver. A password may be required.

  4. The proprietary driver may have to be downloaded and installed.

  5. It may be necessary to restart the computer to finish enabling the driver; the driver installation process will not always indicate this requirement.

Procedure 2. Disabling a proprietary driver for a device:

  1. Open Jockey by going to Kickoff Application LauncherApplicationsSystemHardware Deivers.

  2. Find the driver to be disabled and verify the description.

  3. Press Remove to disable the driver and continue using a free driver, if available. A password may be required.

  4. It may be necessary to restart the computer to finish disabling the driver.