How to get driver support for new hardware?

[fr33z0n3r]

This is a very general question, but the goal is to find out if there is a general methodology to get new hardware supported by Ubuntu/linux. I personally only care about Ubuntu right now.

I do not mean "help me find the drivers for my year old video card", I mean "my hardware is so new it isn't supported and may not have any possible driver".

Example: Dell XPS 18 All-in-one/tablet/PC (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2144458 )

I've heard that USB devices have a VID and PID that are relevant. Is this info standard for ANY new hardware? Is there some way to identify existing relevant drivers/libraries for your type/manufacturer of device? Right now, my only method would be to post here and search the web. Both of which are fruitless for my device.

Is this something that paid Ubuntu support would be able to assist with? Including driver development?

[CatKiller]

No, support at the release of new hardware has to come from the manufacturer. Feel free to contact Dell and highlight to them that this is something you expect from them.

After a device has been released, reverse-engineering to make it work can start. The time it takes to get a working driver will depend on all sorts of factors including how difficult a task it is and how popular the device is. Feel free to join a project reverse-engineering the type of device you're interested in.

Paying money to Canonical will not directly speed up either of these processes, although they do fund these kinds of effort so it may help in the long run.