[luau] Plug-&-Play (M$ secret code)

[W. Wayne Liauh]

Initially I was a little confused, but now I really admire the way 
Mandrake 9.0 handles p-n-p.

If you unplug a HD from one PC and plug it into a second PC with a 
different hardware, Mandrake 9.0 will, "for the first time, and only 
first time," sua sponte (automatically), use new drivers for the new 
system.  No questions asked.  You don't need to do any re-configuration.

However, the way Mandrake 9.0 is structured, if you want the HD to stick 
with the new PC, or simply to use it for a second time, then you have to 
re-configure it, which requires a root privilege.  If you do not do the 
re-configuration, the hardware setup will revert back to its original 
state, nothing has been changed--I can see a lot of advantages of this 
arrangement.

This illustrates the fact that the major Linux distros have indeed put a 
lot of thoughts, toil, and ingenuity into them, and not just putting the 
various programs together.

Another example is that, with the Mozilla that came with Mandrake (and 
Red Hat), I am able to print CJK web pages.  But not so with the stock, 
downloaded package.  Major distros like Mandrake and Red Hat have a 
worldwide network of supporters , and more importantly, hackers.  This 
is something that cannot be duplicated by other distros.