Drivers in kernel or distro?

[danbuter]

Are all the hardware drivers in the kernel? I'm thinking of switching from Ubuntu to Arch just as a learning exercise, but I don't know how drivers are done. I always hear about how Ubuntu handles hardware really well, and I was wondering if I might have issues if I go to another distro. If anything, I think Arch has a newer kernel than Ubuntu, so it might have better hardware support, but I don't know if this is true. Any help on this? Thanks!

[Vergil83]

Most drivers are in the kernel. Depending on how odd the hardware is you may have to do some work to get it working in Arch. I doubt Arch's kernel is that much newer, so it is unlikely that will be an issue.

[oz]

I think Arch has a newer kernel than Ubuntu, so it might have better hardware support, but I don't know if this is true. Any help on this?

Arch is currently using the 2.6.23.1 kernel. I have no idea what kernel Ubuntu uses.

The Arch devs usually release a new kernel package within a few days of each new kernel release, but it doesn't always happen that way.

[The O'Really Factor]

Yeah, I think if your hardware is supported under your current distro, then you shouldn't have any trouble with the next one. Oh, and Ubuntu uses the 2.6.22-14 kernel, so Arch's isn't much newer anyway.