Put the tool on the CD, back it up with a list.

Story: The Future of Hardware Compatibility Lists in LinuxTotal Replies: 0
Author Content
dthacker

Sep 13, 2006
2:14 PM EDT
Last weekend I spent about 4 hours researching and attempting to install the proper sound drivers for my daughter's new 64-bit ASUS/AMD motherboard, which was running SuSE 10.0. To sum up my experience, after 4 hours of reading, updating, chasing obscure libraries, and trial and error, the score was computer 1, Dave 0. Something like this tool for SuSE would be wonderful, but I'm not going to hold my breath waiting. Instead, I'll throw my Kubuntu live CD into the drive and see if I can find this little beauty of a utility. And if it works, it will be a Kubuntu machine. After installing and tinkering with Linux for over eight years, I find my patience waning. The hunt for the right drivers no longer thrills me, I'd rather spend my time beating on Blender, grokking the Gimp, or becoming more Xen. The time I'm spending struggling with the desktop is taking away from the time I need to keep up with the latest generation of software and tools.

Put the tool on the CD, back it up with HCL on the web. Put some kind of utility on the CD that can probe the hardware and report the revision numbers and the firmware numbers. Auto submit the information, if it's not readable, throw it away.

Hear me now, distro makers. Linspire! Hardware support matters. Mepis! Being "cool" is no longer enough. Now you've got to be usable, too.

Posting in this forum is limited to members of the group: [ForumMods, SITEADMINS, MEMBERS.]

Becoming a member of LXer is easy and free. Join Us!