The Authors Support Their Code
The Linux kernel developers and the developers of the various
applications are uncommonly easy to get hold of. The email addresses
of the code maintainers are clearly listed in the source and the
accompanying documentation, and the developers tend to hang out on the
same newsgroups and mailing lists that the users do.
If you have a problem with a device driver, you can directly contact
the developer and pose your question to them. They'll usually be able
to help, or at least tell you why the problem exists and
suggest ways to work around it. I know, I've personally done so.