Windows-based driver support checker for Ubuntu?

[xt knight]

The IdeaPool had an idea about a "checker" that would notify the user
of Linux's support of his devices.  (
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/IdeaPool#head-840a946630b2112c0d2ca651b11d8a52171564fe
)

I decided to attempt to implement this.  How it works right now is
that a modules.pcimap file is provided from /lib/modules/`uname -r`/
and a few WinNT APIs are used to get a list of PCI IDs from the host
Windows PC.  Then, the computer's PCI IDs are checked against that
pcimap file for Linux support.

Support for USB could probably be added easily with modules.usbmap.
Likewise for ISA by means of modules.isapnpmap, Firewire, etc...

The Windows Device Manager keeps a cache of devices that "have been"
plugged in, so the user would not need to plug anything additional in
to check support for every device he has used in the past on that
system.

As far as I can tell this should work perfectly.  As it stands, this
should work under Windows NT 4 and up, AFAIK.  The way it is
implemented right now, different APIs must be used for Win98.  I'm not
sure about Vista but I think it's fine there also.

My main question(s): Is this wanted, or needed, for Ubuntu?  I heard
there was talk of a Windows Ubuntu installer.  I've never personally
inserted a Ubuntu CD into Windows myself so I have no idea where we're
at in that stage right now.

How would this be presented to the user?  Should it pop up before the
installer wizard?  Should it be in the installer wizard, and if so, at
which stage?  What programming language should it be coded in to
ensure compatibility?  How would localization be handled?

Thank you for your time.

Andy Matteson
xtknight on IRC, xt.knight at gmail.com