John Riehl wrote:
> Yeah, there are a lot of little things that just work elsewhere, that
> doesnt work seamlessly with linux.
I've heard this said a lot, but I don't believe it.
I've never seen any installed computer (Mac, Windows, or Linux) where
all this stuff
"just worked". Especially not if the O/S was installed by a user,
and/or if the thing
had been out of the store for more than a week or two.
My take on it is that eternal frustration is the natural state of anyone
trying to get
their system to do what they want. ;-)
I think the only reason people ever get the "Just Works" feeling about
Windows
is because someone else handles the frustration -- they get a pre-installed
system. That works because, the OEM supplier can distribute the cost of
solving those problems over all the (identical) units that they sell.
If and
when you get a pre-installed desktop Linux system from an OEM, it may
turn out better.
Maybe this is why I adopted Linux so early -- I've always built my own
systems,
so I've been experiencing this kind of frustration since the early days
of MS-DOS.
AFAICT, there isn't much difference between a modern Windows and a modern
Linux/KDE desktop system in terms of installation difficulty. Both are made
complicated simply because they require a lot of different components from
different manufacturers to work together. Often, they "Just Don't Work", no
matter who makes the O/S.
(I've recently had to install Windows on a couple of machines, and frankly,
Debian is easier to install -- it's certainly easier to configure. At
least with
Debian, you've got documentation that's actually trying to help you, whereas
Windows is full of arcane details that the techs are trying to hide from
you).
The attitude of users follows a double standard: If a hardware component
"Just Doesn't Work" with Windows, the hardware manufacturer (and the store
keeper, and the horses they rode in on) are blamed -- harshly. But for
some reason,
when the same components "Just Don't Work" with Linux, it's Linux's
fault (and
as far as the store keeper is concerned, *your* fault for having the
temerity
to choose anything but the industry-sanctioned operating system).
I use Linux 100% on all desktop and server systems (I even quit using the
FreeBSD server, though that wasn't exactly an ideological decision ;-)
), and
so, when I build computers today, I build for Linux.
"Building for Linux", to me, means:
1) Selecting brand-name components
(You're saving on the software, so spend a little extra on hardware
that you feel you can trust, and that is more likely to get attention
from developers)
2) Checking the support lists *before* buying the hardware
(E.g. a trip to x.org will show that free drivers are available for
ATI Radeon 9200 series video cards, but not most of the later
ones -- so stick with that).
This is a lot easier to do if you purchase parts online, BTW.
3) Hang back on the technology curve -- buy parts that have been on the
market for a year or two, so there's been time to develop drivers
for it (unless
you really need the high-end, in which case, you're a pro, and you
should
expect to tolerate bleeding-edge problems, "so quit yer whinin'").
4) Look for Windows/Mac support on boxes.
(Chances are, if it works on both Windows and Mac, it probably doesn't
rely on "host-based" control, and has its own MCU and firmware
(e.g. it
is not a winmodem), this became an even better indicator when Mac
went to the OS X Unix-based operating system)
5) Look for suppliers who specifically support Linux
(This is becoming more common, so it's possible, but you have to
search).
6) Don't tolerate closed drivers -- they're more trouble than they're worth.
(I don't want to recompile drivers or beg the developer for the
right build
for my kernel. I want to click the right box when installing
Debian, and
forget about it -- you get this if the driver is free enough to
enter Debian
main).
After about five years of building systems like this, I hardly ever have
trouble
with hardware driver issues (and I know I'm in for it when I do, so I'm not
surprised -- my current problems are with: an nVidia video card (closed
source)
and problems with inexpensive IDE/ATAPI CD-ROM drives).
So, in summary, I think that:
1) The ease and robustness of Windows installers is greatly exaggerated,
because no one installs Windows for themselves any more.
2) The main cause of compatibility problems is that you are doing your
own integration, not that Linux makes integration hard (in fact, I
think
it's a lot more robust about it)
3) If you expect to buy for Linux, you can mitigate most of the problems.
(After all, the industry expects you to buy for Windows if you want
Windows to work smoothly!)
Cheers,
Terry
--
Terry Hancock (hancock at AnansiSpaceworks.com)
Anansi Spaceworks http://www.AnansiSpaceworks.com