Ralph Shumaker wrote:
I *almost* thought I would never hear that, specifically:
Linux has better driver support than [Windows]
Ahhhhh. What a relief it is.
You know, I hadn't actually realized it but you are 100%. It really is a
nice change! Linux has incrementally improved slowly but steadily over
the years and I guess lately I have come to take for granted that just
about any hardware I am likely to buy (I don't buy cheap crap winmodems,
printers, webcams, etc. I'll take a real UART, network attached
postscript, and firewire, thankyouverymuch) and haven't fought with
drivers in years.
I don't remember how I became aware of Linux. But I was searching the
internet for it. (The search tools back then were not as good and my
ability to use them was even worse. (I have gotten better at it, though
sometimes it doesn't seem that way.)) I found ultraviolet.org and an
email address for Tracy.
Ahh...the memories! Actually, I had completely forgotten about helping
you back then but I bet I have our initial conversations archived away
in email somewhere. Someday I should make all of my private email
searchable somehow now that I have the disk space and cpu power for that
kind of thing.
I discovered Linux thanks to a fellow named wingnut (Dave-something IRL)
on #startrek on EFnet IRC back in '93/94. I was tired of Windows and was
looking into OS/2 and since I couldn't afford to purchase it and
couldn't pirate it. He mentioned Linux and sent me looking for the TAMU
distribution. But TAMU had just recently stopped publishing their distro
and while reading the Linux FAQ on rohan.sdsu.edu a fellow named
Stafford Rau noticed what I was reading in the process list and sent me
a talk request. We ended up meeting for lunch where he loaned me his
stack of 3.5" floppies containing an early version of slackware. I
printed out literally everything from the relatively small Linux
Documentation Project and spent the next year reading, experimenting,
and re-installing. I would say it took me two years to really come up to
speed on Linux. Of course I still learn new things all the time.
No idea where either of those two are anymore but I certainly owe them
my thanks.
It was a fairly steep learning curve. But trying the things that one
No kidding. Like I said, it took me a couple years to really become
proficient with it. But now I consider it time well invested because
learning Linux has paid off well in terms of actually giving me a
career. I relied heavily on IRC and the fledgling www to get up to
speed. The Linux Documentation Project was key back in the day also when
there were not yet many Linux books out.
and miss. Video drivers were an issue with many advanced cards.
Video drivers are still an issue if you want 3d but I hope in the next
few years that problem will be solved also.
Fortunately, after USB came into common use, and Linux finally got good
support for it, printer and scanner drivers were becoming less and less
of a problem. By the time I went to get a new printer & scanner, I
I was quite skeptical of USB at first, especially before Linux really
supported it well. But now I use USB keyboards, mice, and especially
external hard drives for backup purposes and I am quite pleased with how
it has worked out.
With all this, I just find it soothing to hear someone say:
Linux has better driver support than [Windows]
Yep. What I wonder now is: for how long will this situation last? Vista
is relatively new. It may catch up and pass Linux once again in terms of
driver support if MS is successful in getting everyone forced over to
Vista so that all of the hardware manufacturers have to make drivers for
Vista.
--
[email protected]
http://www.kernel-panic.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/kplug-list
