>GNU/Linux hasn't gained the critical mass required to meet this challenge as >well as MS. Most components work, though. Most modern video cards are >supported, for example.
>Isn't this the same for any OS? MS rely on hardware manufacturers writing >drivers for Windows. True, they don't have to lobby them or reverse engineer >their own drivers, but the fact remains that they are at the mercy of hardware >manufacturers to provide support. If you notice in the article that I posted to the list: <http:// kopsisengineering.com/zaurus_review/zaurus_review.html>, the author refers to Sharp (in this case) having to try and leverage the Linux community to get Linux development for their PDA. I don't intend to harp on this issue, but it actually is quite interesting. Does the Linux community have a hard time leveraging hardware manufacturers to develop drivers or provide info so third party drivers can be developed or is it that manufacturers have a hard time leveraging the Linux community to get their products supported, because the Linux community lacks enough focus to support existing hardware? >I've heard the "if there was only one gui..." argument many times, and it >always seems to be coming from the people who are trying to apply the >methodologies of other, closed source OSs onto GNU/Linux. More focus does not necessarily mean that there should be a "one GUI" policy as I propose, but for an outsider (newbie) looking in, it is hard not to compare Linux to other OS's, as there seems to be a lack of direction and a doubling of resources that could/should be used in other areas that need extra resources. None of this should be considered a criticism, but rather musings about a totally different world seen (partially) from the outside, looking in, as well as some frustration. >What would this entail, seeing that GNU/Linux can run on just about any >platform? A "hardware standard" would be contrary to this, and would not be in >the spirit of freedom of choice. >The desktop arena is based more on perceptions and marketing more than >anything else. AmigaOS, BeOS, MacOS and GNU/Linux are all better than Windows in most >cases, but it is Windows with over 90% share. Most of this is due to good PR >work, and everything snowballed from there. GNU/Linux can't deliver a good PR >campaign to the average consumer because of the multitude of options >available. This won't change, but I'm sure that GNU/Linux _will_ gain market share on the >desktop (albeit slowly). If you notice, I referred to a desktop hardware standard, not a general hardware standard. these are two very different things. I think it is great that Linux can run on everything from watches and PDA's to IBM mainframes. A desktop hardware standard would help homogenize the desktop platform for Linux and would allow better control over the development of hardware that Linux users use. Apple isn't really a model, but a move in that direction would not hurt. It would not have to be proprietary, just a set standard that could help leverage the platform. Do you know how GSM mobile phones became an international standard? The Nordic countries (Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Iceland and Finland) agreed on a common standard for mobile phone communications. The Nordic countries don't have the largest populations of any countries in the world, nor are they necessarily the most advanced countries in every area. The only reason that GSM became a standard was through mutual agreement, rather than competition in the mobile phone area. No other country could agree on another standard, because all the different companies' and countries' interests were too divergent. In the states, they have yet to achieve even a nationwide GSM coverage because of all of the competing standards. Talk about a nightmare scenario! Competition can sometimes be a good idea, but in reality a community like the Linux community should realize that the community will only last as long as cooperation exists inside the community, rather than competition. Why, because you are all mutually dependent. Its time to leverage some of the mutual aid that exists in the Linux community and tone down the competition. >Perhaps you're not researching the right way? Have you tried asking on >this list >for some sites to visit? Here are a few: > >http://lhd.zdnet.com/ >http://www.linuxhardware.net/ >http://www.linuxhardware.org/ >http://www.linuxvoodoo.com/ >http://www.linuxtested.com/ >http://www.linux.com/enhance/hardware/ > >You should be looking for _chipsets_, not card brands. I can't think of any >major video chipset that isn't supported by GNU/Linux. Thanks for the tip ;-) seen from my viewpoint, I would have thoght that it would be the otherway around. Chipsets are one thing, but then somebody gets the idea to throw all sorts of proprietary crap on the card to make it "their" card. Cheers, Brian "That is logic that even a chicken would understand." - Danish saying.
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