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From: Nick Andrew on 5 Nov 2009 07:55
Frank Slootweg <this(a)ddress.is.invalid> writes:

> Not to mention "exotic hardware" like mobile (HSDPA/GPRS) modems.
>Mobile networking for a mobile computer, who would have thought of
>*that*! :-(

My Huawei E220 didn't work when I bought it. Device support was dodgy
in the latest kernel at that time (sorry I don't remember the release
number). But support became stable in the next 2 kernel releases and
it's worked fine since then.

Anyway, I have an Asus EEE 901 running Ubuntu 8.04. Video works, sound
works, USB works, WiFi works. Suspending and resuming works. Special
function keys work. And I don't think I did anything special to make it
work. So I don't think linux "working out of the box" is as rare as you
make it out to be.

Nick.
From: Rod Speed on 5 Nov 2009 15:47
Nick Andrew wrote
> Rod Speed <rod.speed.aaa(a)gmail.com> wrote

>> Or give up on Linux for more exotic hardware like DVB-T cards,
>> because it drastically reduces your choice of hardware.

> Exotic is a good word there. But having a working DVB-T is seriously
> the least important part of my computing experience, so I wouldn't
> give up the other benefits of Linux just so I can have a working TV.

Most just have a separate older PC for the PVR so they dont have to use the same OS on everything.

>> You can be completely confident that the card manufacturer has made
>> it work with Win and if it doesnt, you are legally entitled to a full refund.

> I'd put "work" inside double quotes there. I've heard of device
> drivers being so minimal that they only work with a single device of
> some type. Bad luck if you want to use two of them.

Sure, there are always purchase decisions with every purchase,
but thats an entirely separate matter to what OS cripples your
choices with more exotic hardware like DVB-T cards.


From: Rod Speed on 5 Nov 2009 15:50
Nick Andrew wrote
> Frank Slootweg <this(a)ddress.is.invalid> writes

>> Not to mention "exotic hardware" like mobile (HSDPA/GPRS) modems.
>> Mobile networking for a mobile computer, who would have thought of *that*! :-(

> My Huawei E220 didn't work when I bought it. Device support was dodgy
> in the latest kernel at that time (sorry I don't remember the release
> number). But support became stable in the next 2 kernel releases and
> it's worked fine since then.

> Anyway, I have an Asus EEE 901 running Ubuntu 8.04. Video works, sound
> works, USB works, WiFi works. Suspending and resuming works. Special
> function keys work. And I don't think I did anything special to make
> it work. So I don't think linux "working out of the box" is as rare
> as you make it out to be.

Its pretty rare for any distro to work perfectly without a single glitch or
something not working, with no tweaking required, particularly with laptops.

In spades with the more exotic hardware like DVB-T cards and NextG etc.


From: Frank Slootweg on 7 Nov 2009 15:45
Nick Andrew <nick(a)spamtrap.nick-andrew.net> wrote:
[...]

[Details about Linux scanner and printer support (Thanks!) deleted.]

> But in WiFi and DVB,
> new devices are being developed at a great rate and sometimes it
> takes time for the open source drivers to support the hardware.
> I have a m920x based DVB device (two, actually) and at the time
> I bought them the device wasn't usable under linux. Within a
> couple of months, it worked fine. Sometime later I obtained a
> new AF9015 based DVB device and it didn't work under linux - the
> AF9015 driver was still at a "pre-alpha" state. Considerable
> work has occurred on the AF9015 driver since then and although I
> haven't tested the device on a recent driver, I believe it will
> work.

I think that's a good summary/example [1]: If you need something
(which is not clearly supported by Linux) to work out-of-the-box or
within a limited time-frame, then Linux might be too risky and it's
probably better to use Windows. But if you can wait some time and
purchase a rather popular brand+model, then Linux might suit you fine.

[1] In your other response you gave a similar example of your experience
with your Huawei E220 mobile '3G' modem.
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