On Thu, 16 Sep 2004 12:57:17 -0500 Wyatt wrote: > On Thursday 16 September 2004 05:17, Scott Robbins wrote: > > > So, even gurus (like my friend, I'm no guru) join you in your rant. > > Even the gurus. I'm sure, would like to actually *use* their computer > once in awhile instead of spending all the time just getting it to do > something or something else the right way.
We don't, we just use it. If something doesn't work, we go and fix it. I'm not the guru Scott is talking about, not even a guru, but I pretend being one because of your comment - implying that since I can use all the hardware in my computer (plus a couple of other things, for instance my remote control), I must be something like an Überguru. > MS has its faults, but, > for the most part, a computer illiterate gran'ma or a young child can > turn it on outta the box and get it to do most of the stuff it's > supposed to without tech support. Ok, now stop and think about it. Picture that computer illiterate gran'ma buying, say, a modem. "There you are, granny, your new modem. Oh, and by the way, the modem is not supported by windows." And now tell me how long Craptech, the manufacturer of the modem, would stay in business? Woopsy, it took you too long - it's already gone. When I go to a shop and ask whether the hardware xxx is supported by linux, I get blank stares, get suspected of being illiterate (they read me the system requirements off the box), and very rarely I get a useful information from a fellow linuxer working there. Is not providing linux driver a risk for the hardware producer? Do they care? By ranting about lacking hardware support as linux' fault, you're missing the target (and making a bit of an ass of yourself). Shouldn't you rather rant about the hardware producers not providing drivers for their products? Is the option of trying new drivers that you talked about in a previous post, "fully available with a simple download and click to install" a sign of superiority of Windows' design, or rather a consequence of the dominant position on the market, as seen on the example of Craptech? And is the lacking support for some hardware in Linux a proof of its inferior design? What argument would you have left if all hardware manufacturers took the example of Nvidia and provided drivers as a runnable script, "fully available with a simple download and click to install". Well, they aren't. What can Linux do about it? Nothing, untill it's so widespread that companies like Craptech can go bankrupt for not providing Linux drivers. Just consider what it takes to write a driver for Linux. First of all, you have to buy the hardware - you can't code based on assumptions. Then you have to do extensive testing, trying to find out how it's working. Not only are hardware manufacturers not supplying drivers, they're also being extremely unhelpful by not releasing any informations (some have even tried to sue developers for "reverse-engineering" their product). And only then, after this detective work, you can start the development - coding, testing, bugsquashing... That is, if you have the time, since you're doing it in your free time, unpaid. And then you send it to Linus, who has a life to live himself instead of working all day for your convenience packaging the driver so you can install it with a single click. Linus puts the driver into the kernel tree, so you have to compile it yourself (or use the precompiled module supplied by your distro makers). I must say that like Scott, I'm a little surprised to read about such problems. Linux hardware support (and configuration) is by no means ideal, but yours must be a case of really bad luck. Any recent-ish distro does, IMHO, a hell of a job recognising the hardware and automagically configuring itself to use it. LiveCD distros like Knoppix autoconfigure themselves while booting, and start faster off slow media like a CD then W2k starts off a hard disk. Yet Knoppix lets me use all the hardware in my computer (including the tv-card) without configuration or manual tweaking. We use the Knoppix CD at work to troubleshoot windows hardware problems. So let's stop talking about problems and start solving them. Cheers -- Horror Vacui Registered Linux user #257714 Go get yourself... counted: http://counter.li.org/ - and keep following the GNU. ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Make a clean sweep of pop-up ads. Yahoo! Companion Toolbar. Now with Pop-Up Blocker. Get it for free! http://us.click.yahoo.com/L5YrjA/eSIIAA/yQLSAA/0XFolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> To unsubscribe from this list, please email [EMAIL PROTECTED] & you will be removed. Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LINUX_Newbies/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
