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  • #71
    This is a good idea in theory. I'd definitely use it but it would have to be kept up to date. Not only do some devices get better support in later kernels/drivers but also some support gets worse or is removed altogether (this happens in kernel as well).

    I'd be interested in using this to buy my next dvb card/stick. My current card supports linux but has had a minor problem since kernel 2.6.28 and DVB-T2 is launching soon in Britain. It can be quite difficult keeping track of what hardware revisions are linux compatible but another problem is that some manufacturers sometimes change the internal hardware without changing either the packaging or model name/number.

    I'd like products to have several ratings. 1-10 for closed source driver features. The same again for open source. Also a comments box for each stating things like which kernels or other software (i.e.xorg-server) are and aren't supported.

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    • #72
      Ok, the idea might be nice, but:

      a) Amazon might be more expensive than some cheaper vendors.
      b) How does this work from Germany ? Is it possible to use this shop in countries other than the US? (w/o an premium like shipping US to Germany, troubles with german customs, etc.) I know this issue when I ordered books from Amazon US (that were not available in German bookstores)

      So I might not use this shop.

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      • #73
        There exist many hardware compatibility lists, but a dedicated Linux-supporting store does not exist so far as I know. If it ships to Israel, I would gladly make my purchases there.

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        • #74
          Gold for open, Silver for closed, Copper for partial/troublesome...

          I would like if Amazon and other shops would add some sort of "Phoronix tested" image (linked to the respective article).

          Something such as Gold for hardware with open driver (these work out of the box), Silver for well supported but closed driver (these work after you install their driver), and Copper if the hardware driver (open or closed) has only partial/incomplete support, or takes a lot of effort (requires extracting a binary blob, etc).

          Also i would like to remind, Amazon might be US centric, but then Newegg is almost xenophobic. They won't accept foreign credit cards, even if shipping is done to an US address, but i can purchase in Amazon just fine and send the packages to a remailer.

          Someone talked about obsolete hardware not supported, hey, you have two options: You can use a distro which uses old kernels, or you could switch to netbsd/freebsd. Here the "Gold" (open driver) gives you a very high chance that this device will work in other, non mainstream OSes such as netbsd.

          A shop promoting vendors such as ZaReason, System76, Always Innovating which sell preinstalled is key for adoption. The ARM wave of "Smartbooks" is about to hit, and these will only work with open drivers out of the box.

          A buyer in that shop could pick a ZaReason machine with a couple of "Phoronix gold" peripherals that would "just work" out of the box (Many HP printers, etc). completely avoiding Microsoft tax.

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          • #75
            I would love to see a linux phoronix store. I personally hate having to find random websites to see if whatever I am gonna buy will work in my machine. It would be worth a little extra money to me if I didnt have to do all that research.

            I would love to see some wifi linux testing in this store.

            I personally would want to buy a video card with good open source drivers in it. Seeing open and closed rankings would not hurt either.

            I really hope this idea comes into reality, I would also feel good about giving back to the phoronix. I'm not big on subscriptions or donations, sorry.

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            • #76
              Originally posted by mattmatteh View Post
              i am only suggesting that closed source is left out since it has a much shorter life that open source. when i buy hardware i expect a long life out of it.

              matt
              I've had more hardware suffer hardware failure than suffer from driver death. In fact I don't know that I have any hardware that's suffered death by disappearing binary support. The cards that did not suffer some hardware failure are still supported by NVidia's legacy drivers--which were even updated at the start of last month.

              I think the lifespan is plenty long enough to be relevant. It's not nearly as short as you have everyone believe with that FUD.

              Also, since we're measuring "support time" don't forget to deduct the years of non-support at the beginning of a product's life span that open source sometimes just doesn't cover. For example some would argue that the open source support for ATI cards is just now starting to come around. Yes I know you've been able to wobble windows on your cube for quite a while, but some of us like to do a bit more. If that's the case then how can you say that the life span is longer when the relevant part of the support has yet to happen?

              If you want to say that you have moral reservations about including information about closed source solutions, I'm fine with that and can respect your opinion.

              However the "oh nos! your driver is gonna breaks at the mercy of the evil corps!" argument is borderline on FUD: Fear, uncertainty, and doubt, a marketing strategy involving the spread of worrisome information about a competing product.

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              • #77
                Originally posted by Jimmy View Post
                I've had more hardware suffer hardware failure than suffer from driver death.
                So have I, but I've still got a canon scanner which works fine on linux but doesn't have drivers for 64-bit vista and so is a (light, flat) brick there.

                Back on topic.. I really like the idea of a rating system similar to that suggested earlier in this thread. Separate ratings for different drivers, both with multiple criteria. Something like:

                - driver in Kernel (AKA works out-of-the-box) yes/no

                Open source driver rating
                - stability /10
                - features /10

                Proprietary/Other driver rating
                - stability /10
                - features /10

                Some kind of wiki editability and user voting/commenting would be great too.. something like a cross between stackoverflow.com and newegg.com

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                • #78
                  Anything to make Linux shopping easier is a plus for Linux users, certainly. Such things could help to push companies to let others know when their stuff is Linux-supported by offering companies more ways to tell Linux users that and spread the word. It fosters more competition for Linux-compatible hardware IMO.

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