Why do ALL the device drivers be included in the kernel?

From: XMLSDK (xmlsdk_at_yahoo.com.hk)
Date: 08/28/04 

Date: Sun, 29 Aug 2004 00:07:15 +0800

Hello! I think that the kernel tree has become bigger and bigger. When a
user who only does some common jobs with an ordinary PC, he may finds that
most device drivers in the kernel tree are not used. So why doesn't the
device drivers be separated from the kernel package?

Furthermore, most users only work on one or two architectures. They may
never used or ever know some special machines. The kernel package including
all the architectures makes it very big. Is this issue addressed before?

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