Techworld's Matthew Broersma reports that Devicescape Software has released its Linux wireless LAN driver software to open source developers in an effort to encourage the integration of native Wi-Fi capabilities into the Linux kernel.

"Currently, Linux's Wi-Fi support is patchy at best, depending on the goodwill of hardware makers such as Intel to release drivers for their own Wi-Fi chip sets," Broersma writes.

"Devicescape hopes the release of its Advanced Datapath Driver under the GNU Public License will make it far easier for Linux to be used as the core of wireless electronics, since it should allow developers to immediately adopt the latest Wi-Fi hardware."

According to Broersma, the software could also help Linux identify and handle different media streams like voice and video. "The driver includes an 802.11 stack with software media access controller (MAC) and quality of service (QoS), important for IP telephony," he writes. "It also supports such standards as WEP, WPA and WME."