Why in Linux community most people call drivers "firmware"

[CaffeineAddict]

I noticed a really odd trend that is present almost only in Linux community.

Most people say "firmware" when in fact they're referring to drivers.
There is a difference between firmware and drivers, drivers are installed to OS for instance for the kernel to operate hardware,
however firmware is installed to hardware directly usually by hardware manufacturer.

Flashing a BIOS for instance means installing BIOS firmware, however when installing wifi card drivers that means you're installing a driver, not firmware.

 

[Brickwizard]

as I see it
Firmware is usually on the BIOS [The Basic Input Output System)] or supplementary ROM, and is what makes the machine's motherboard and other essentials work
Drivers are for components that are not a part of the motherboard but are connected to the machine and essential for them to work
software can be either drivers or applications [programs as MS likes to call them] which can be installed or uninstalled without compromising the firmware of the motherboard

Flashing is the forced upgrading of the firmware in the non-volatile ROM chip known as the BIOS

 

[CaffeineAddict]

HDD\SSD and DVD-ROM are another examples in addition to motherboards which have firmware installed to it's ROM.

Fundamental difference between firmware and drivers is that firmware is installed directly to a hardware component while drivers are installed to file system.

firmware is also referred to as microcode sometimes, but this are not drivers.

 

[JasKinasis]

Firmware is usually flashed to an EEPROM on the hardware itself and determines how the hardware operates and responds to its various inputs. Whereas drivers are installed on the operating systems local file-system and are used by the operating system kernel to allow the OS and other software to interface with the hardware.

 

[CaffeineAddict]

software can be either drivers or applications [programs as MS likes to call them]

Btw. this is yet another naming issue found online.
So much confusion between software \ programs \ apps \ driver \ firmware

Software is generic term and may mean any of: program, app, driver or firmware.
Just like there is difference between a driver and firmware so is there difference between a program or an app.

A program is what we usually run on our desktops or on the command line, while apps are containerized programs that are installed from sources such as flatpak, MS store, google play etc.

So I think we can say an app is program but a program is not an app but both are software.

@JasKinasis
Exactly!

 

[Brickwizard]

There are a few cross over points in how we describe something
another is the difference between ROM [read only memory] and RAM [random access memory] , ROM being non-volatile memory and RAM being volatile memory, which then leads to the question of what's the difference,

you could be opening a whole new can of worms

 

[Trenix25]

as I see it
Firmware is usually on the BIOS [The Basic Input Output System)] or supplementary ROM, and is what makes the machine's motherboard and other essentials work
Drivers are for components that are not a part of the motherboard but are connected to the machine and essential for them to work
software can be either drivers or applications [programs as MS likes to call them] which can be installed or uninstalled without compromising the firmware of the motherboard

Flashing is the forced upgrading of the firmware in the non-volatile ROM chip known as the BIOS

ROM means Read Only Memory and can only be written to once. What you are talking about probably involves the use of an EPROM or EEPROM.

Signed,

Matthew Campbell

 

[Vimmer]

as I see it
Firmware is usually on the BIOS [The Basic Input Output System)] or supplementary ROM, and is what makes the machine's motherboard and other essentials work
Drivers are for components that are not a part of the motherboard but are connected to the machine and essential for them to work
software can be either drivers or applications [programs as MS likes to call them] which can be installed or uninstalled without compromising the firmware of the motherboard

Flashing is the forced upgrading of the firmware in the non-volatile ROM chip known as the BIOS

That is true: i usually think of firmware as the software inherent to a device, a motherboard without a bios is bricked unless the manufacturer can help it.

 

[bob466]

I always call a Driver a Driver...never firmware. Some people call a Flash Drive many names which is very confusing...
https://darwinsdata.com/what-are-the-three-other-names-for-a-flash-drive/