Munich now Open Source

[runderwo]

Pace, which distribution did you try? The less free-software-zealous distributions (such as most of the commercial ones) tend to include more hardware drivers with their distributions. For example in Debian you have to install a package from contrib that fetches, unpacks, compiles, and installs the Nvidia GLX drivers for you, since the Nvidia GLX driver itself is not allowed to be included in the distribution. However, other distributions such as Libranet and Lindows ship with this driver included because they don't care as much about the "free-ness" of the software as much as providing the end user with an easy-to-use experience.

[Slougi]

Originally posted by Pace
You are speaking from personal experience obviously. I have all software across the network, makes installs speedy. As for needed drivers....let's see.

Sound? No. Graphics? No. NIC? No. Modem? No. Printer? No. Anything? No.

Windows comes with every driver I need. I do have drivers installed, but do not really need them - I will always probably install the Matrox drivers for instance, and the HP drivers for when I want to do fancier printouts. From a fresh install Windows is very usable, I quickly bung in my dialup number and I am quite happily working away

Nice. So what is it out of these that Redhat, Mandrake, Suse etc don't do?

[Gurm]

I'm gonna go out on a limb.

I have yet to see a Linux distro that supports my photo printer properly.

My ATI video card? Partial support. Nothing great. CERTAINLY not good enough to use WhineX to play games with.

Audigy? ROFL.

- Gurm

[runderwo]

Gurm, what's your photo printer?

Also, what do you mean when you say partial support for ATI? No games work, or just works badly overall? ATI has their own driver set that is much further along than the free DRI drivers (i.e. play UT2003 and such), that won't get included in the more freedom-conscious distributions; but for the same reasons as the NVIDIA driver it should be included with the more liberal ones. Also, if your video card works with the DRI it should work with WineX too; all WineX does is implement Direct3D on top of OpenGL so it uses the same OpenGL layer that native games do.

Audigy is supported in ALSA and Creative has their own maintained driver for the Audigy as well... I guess it is just a matter of finding a distribution that includes the support for it. Good luck

[Gurm]

runderwo,

You're illustrating my point. My video card is natively supported by XP, in a driver licensed from/by ATI. If I want newer features or fixes, I can download a single executable from ATI, and in two clicks be running a new video driver.

The Linux Audigy support, according to the Creative newsgroups and forums... is poop, plain and simple. Not that the Windows support is all that great, to listen to some people. LOL.

- Gurm

[Gurm]

Oh, and as for my photo printer - it's an HP PhotoSmart 1215. I haven't seen a Linux driver for it yet, so feel free to correct me if there is one. I'd like to try it on the simple basis of the Windows one sucking up so damn much machine resources.

- Gurm

[runderwo]

"If I want newer features or fixes, I can download a single executable from ATI, and in two clicks be running a new video driver."

If you are running a rpm-based distribution:

http://www.ati.com:80/support/drivers/linux/radeon-linux.html?cboOS=LinuxXFree86&cboProducts=RADEON+9700+PRO&eula=&choice=agree&cmdNext=Next

HP Photosmart 1215:

http://www.linuxprinting.org/show_printer.cgi?recnum=HP-PhotoSmart_P1215

"The Linux Audigy support, according to the Creative newsgroups and forums... is poop, plain and simple."

Do you know what the specific complaints are? I have a friend with one and I'd like to run it past him.

[Gurm]

I can go look it up later.

- Gurm

[runderwo]

Back to work, slacker!

[leech]

Hmm, well let's look at my hardware....

Matrox Parhelia 128mb Retail. No built in drivers for that.

Broadcom4400, no built-in drivers for that either.

Performance is like ass without the Intel Chipset drivers.

SBLive, actually have built-in drivers.

WinTV card, no drivers for that either...

Adaptec Ultra160, that actually has built-in drivers, though (and once again speaking from personal experience) if you end up having a SCSI card that doesn't come with built-in drivers, and you don't have an IDE harddrive at all, and no internet access or floppy that was provided with your hardware, then you're pretty much screwed!

Leech

[leech]

Originally posted by Gurm
runderwo,

You're illustrating my point. My video card is natively supported by XP, in a driver licensed from/by ATI. If I want newer features or fixes, I can download a single executable from ATI, and in two clicks be running a new video driver.

The Linux Audigy support, according to the Creative newsgroups and forums... is poop, plain and simple. Not that the Windows support is all that great, to listen to some people. LOL.

- Gurm

Xandros is the answer there..... If you use the Xandros network, they have an ATI Radeon driver (for pretty much every card, and yes it's the ATI one, not DRI one.) And There is also the one for the Audigy.

Leech

[cjolley]

Originally posted by runderwo
[BHP Photosmart 1215:

http://www.linuxprinting.org/show_printer.cgi?recnum=HP-PhotoSmart_P1215

[/B]

According to that site my Xerox laser printer (P8) is a Paperweight
Oddly enough, it prints just fine in Windoz.
chuck

[Marshmallowman]

Well back to the original topic.

One of the big shortcomings of linux is gamming support, but that is a bonus for govenement workstations.

And I think once they have created an install script for there chosen distro, I think it would be something like 30 minutes per install, even less is they simply do HDD cloning

Of couse they will be the mandatory 30 minutes or so per user configuration, probably the same as windows.

With govenment and corporate they target hardware is very consistent, as is the software bundle installed. If you use the distros prefered apps I think you will have very low rollout costs compared to windows.

Anbody say that it would take hours to do a single computer in such a circumstance better loosen their grip becuase it will probably fall off soon.

I must say a lot of the reasons linux does not do well on the "Home" desktop is pobably the same reasons it very suitable for corporate/government desktop.

[Gurm]

But it's NOT suited for corporate use.

Corporations count TCO. TCO on Linux is absurdly high. People who know how to set up and debug Windows are a dime a dozen. Linux gurus are in somewhat shorter supply.

Problems in Windows are easy to fix. Even if they occur more often, they're simple, quick fixes 99% of the time.

In Linux, the most basic problem can become a 4-hour nightmare while you e-mail someone at MIT who needs to patch a driver for you because 3Com changed the chip ID on one of their cards again (I had to do this last time I was a Linux admin, eep!).

You have just named a half dozen distros I've NEVER HEARD OF, and networks I have no idea exist. And I'm willing to bet your average computer geek doesn't know about them either.

For better or for worse, anyone who goes to get Linux will get Red Hat or Mandrake.

And don't start in on RPM's. "They're so easy!" you say. From what I hear, they often fail to work. Most software has a disclaimer on the RPM version saying "it never works, but everyone wants it so we put it together. When it fails to work, run configure and make."

TCO on Linux is obscene. Nobody in the business office of a company CARES if initial outlay is $200 per workstation. Many companies now work on an outcall basis. When you're contracted to IBM to have a guy come in and fix your PC's, do you REALLY want to pay $75/hr. for 4-6 hours for a simple fix? ONE obscure bug can DWARF the initial outlay for Windows.

And THAT is why Linux isn't catching on, except in places like city governments, which are hopelessly mired in red tape and confusion to begin with.

- Gurm

[Slougi]

I don't know Gurm. Ximian has contracts to convert 250000 workstations in the EU to Linux from Windows. Link: http://osnews.com/story.php?news_id=3705&page=2

If that is not catching on I don't know what is.