diff -Naur -Naru ethtool-1.8/ethtool.c ethtool-1.8-pb/ethtool.c
--- ethtool-1.8/ethtool.c	2003-07-19 15:15:26.000000000 +0000
+++ ethtool-1.8-pb/ethtool.c	2003-07-31 15:47:50.000000000 +0000
@@ -678,12 +678,7 @@
 
 	if (devname == NULL) {
 		show_usage(1);
-	} else if (strncmp(devname, "eth", 3) && strncmp(devname, "usb", 3)) {
-		fprintf(stderr, "%s does not appear to be an ethernet device\n",
-			devname);
-		show_usage(1);
 	}
-
 }
 
 static void dump_supported(struct ethtool_cmd *ep)