Not exactly a Debian only topic but where else is the degree of experience and expertise available besides this Debian list?Check the various howtos and compatibility listings to see what works.
Suppose someone wants to put together or buy a computer ---something that is fully compatible with Linux.....no makedo patches such as for winmodems or other components, etc---how can you make sure you're getting what you want?
What are the indicators that will tell us whether the components are fully Linux compatible, whether they are part of a ready to run Windows computer, a systemless computer, a bare bones box, or one that you build from scratch?Don't know about such identifiers.
Is there something that prevents manufacturers from clearly stating that a product is fully suitable for Linux? It's done for MS Windows. Is this some kind of legal or technical issue, or is it some kind of 'business arrangement'?Fear of losing their sweet pricing deals from M$.
Wouldn't it be nice if there was a notice or disclaimer that clearly stated, "100% suitable for Linux" or "Not suitable for Linux"That sure would be nice.
With the universal recognition and use of Linux as an operating system, it seems strange that you don't see components or a whole computer clearly identified as fully suitable for Linux even thoughMaybe universal to people who work in tech/IT, but still only a fringe-type idea to Joe Sixpack.
it may have MS Windows installed.
alex
A couple of things from personal experience:
- nForce onboard ethernet requires a binary-only driver from nVidia. It works OK, but it is a pain to compile _another_ module after installing a new kernel. Via motherboards use a Realtek chip which is widely supported in the kernel.
- nForce AGPGART is only natively supported in kernel 2.4.22 (and the later development kernels), there is an available 2.4.20 patch from nVidia.
- nForce2 audio is well supported by the i8x0 OSS and ALSA drivers.
- 8x AGP support is still very flaky (except perhaps in the most bleeding edge kernels)
- ATi video cards are well supported by DRI (all the way up to the Radeon 9000 or 9200, I think, all the AGP 4x cards). Personally, I get good performance from the proprietary ATi drivers (about 1950 fps in glxgears), which I need to be able to play America's Army. I also have Daniel Stone's XFree86 4.3 packages. Which, along with a 2.4.22 kernel and modules from dri.sourceforge.net, gives way better performance (2450 fps in glxgears) than the binary ATi drivers. But the open source drivers break America's Army.
Just my thoughts.
-Roberto Sanchez
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