Well, I would expect that if Linux is deployed in the work place, then it's either the employers decree or the IT department's choice. Giving the employee a choice the votes would be for OS/X or Windows, I would highly doubt that Linux would be a common person's choice.
When it comes down to HW choices, there are only a hand full that could be seen as non-Linux friendly ( Win-Modems if they still exist, Mother Boards with Windows only chips aka see first email in this thread ) So we are faced with the ethical question when choosing new hardware, what is the best value and what also appeals to my values. This is the discussion I was hoping to have, can one balance price/performance with FOSS/GNU ideals? You be the judge :-) Joe On Fri, Jul 31, 2009 at 12:39 PM, Greg M. Johnson <[email protected]>wrote: > Subject: Re: [mhvlug] Finally bit the dust > > > Message: 3 > > Date: Wed, 29 Jul 2009 21:14:22 -0400 > > From: Chris Knadle <[email protected]> > > > > Consider the way that Nvidia drivers currently work -- they're > periodically > > split off into separate packages which are then not supported, and the > > newer > > drivers deprecate older cards. Then what happens is that both the Linux > > kernel and X.org are updated such that the old drivers that are no longer > > supported require updating before they will function again. :-/ (I'm > > currently dealing with this problem with several older Nvidia cards, all > of > > which are in different states of brokeness.) Repeat that cycle a few > times > > and > > you can understand why having an open source driver that others can > support > > is > > a big deal. And this also explains why binary blobs can _never_ fully > fit > > our > > needs. > > > > I think this also explains why ATI went away from the binary-only model > -- > > because it similarly creates forced obsolescence and thus pisses people > > off. > > > > > > -- Chris > > > > > Okay, let's agree that the Linux enthusiast, when re/building a new system > from scratch, should seek out components that are open-source friendly. > But > what about the business of satisfying customers who need a functioning OS > in > their workplace (but happen to have problematic cards) or the political > movement of empowering widespread adoption of free-as-in-beer OS'es? > > I had Ubuntu 8.04.1 on a box, and decided to upgrade. I got a message that > said because I had an Nvidia card, I would lose features upon upgrading, > because there was no driver available for 8.10. My solution? Linux Mint! > I > don't know if Linux Mint will later hit me with exactly the same problem > when I upgrade it, but I was agitated enough to switch. I'm just wondering > how many n00bs (businesspersons included) would just go to Vista upon > seeing > such a message (provided no one told them about Linux Mint.) Were there > no alternatives? I'd imagine any other option, perhaps even forking a > distro over the card version, would be better than giving a new adopter > such > a screen. > > > > > > > -- > Greg M. Johnson > http://pterandon.blogspot.com > _______________________________________________ > Mid-Hudson Valley Linux Users Group http://mhvlug.org > http://mhvlug.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mhvlug > Upcoming Meetings (6pm - 8pm) MHVLS Auditorium > Jul 1 - Linux High Performance Computing > Aug 5 - TBD > Sept 2 - Linux and HDTV > _______________________________________________ Mid-Hudson Valley Linux Users Group http://mhvlug.org http://mhvlug.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mhvlug Upcoming Meetings (6pm - 8pm) MHVLS Auditorium Jul 1 - Linux High Performance Computing Aug 5 - TBD Sept 2 - Linux and HDTV
