Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Linux Driver Support Still Leaves A Lot To Desire

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • #51
    Originally posted by droidhacker View Post
    I have no choice, I have to contradict the majority (or all of) that list.

    -Point OSS drivers are slower: So what? They're plenty fast enough for the VAST majority of users, who DON'T use their computers for stupid crap like playing games.
    -Point OSS drivers have fewer features: Same as previous point -- SO WHAT? They do what they need to do.
    -Point difficult to configure drivers: Huh? Not at all. KMS = automatic config in VAST majority of cases, tweaking at GUI System Settings --> Display.
    -Point difficult to upgrade drivers: Couldn't be more wrong. "yum update" --> Done.
    -Point documentation != developers: Development is plenty fast enough to satisfy virtually everyone.
    -Point same-day support: It is impossible to ACTUALLY HAVE hardware on the same day it is released, so this point is irrelevant.
    -Point features not implemented: Duplicate of point 2.
    -Point linux power consumption > microshit: LIES. I briefly ran microshit7 on my newly acquired laptop to update the BT module in my car... it ran the CPU fan at no less than 50% the entire time. Installed Fedora 17 with discrete GPU disabled, and fan OFF 90%+ of the time, briefly comes on MINIMUM speed when the temp exceeds 40. I DARE YOU to tell me that its using more power in Linux.
    -Point sound cards slow to support: Never heard of this before. Every sound card I've EVER seen has worked fully out of the box.
    -Point poor printer support: That's really REALLY funny... because I just did a fresh F17 install on my new laptop, and I didn't have to do **ANYTHING** to set up the (NETWORK/WIFI laser) printer. File --> Print, and guess what? It already had the printer configured without me having to DO ANYTHING.
    -Point poor peripheral support: If you have ever seen a keyboard or mouse that did NOT work in Linux, let me know about it and I'll tell you how to PLUG IT IN. MUCH more unusual equipment than a simple keyboard or mouse works perfectly.... scanners, webcams, etc.


    Wifi works,
    web cams work (strangly, I have several computers with webcams, including laptops built in, and the all work 100%),
    Even a BLUETOOTH 3 modules -- working.


    No weird drivers, nothing to install.
    Just drop in the install disk and EVERYTHING is up 100% without exception.
    Someone has a bit of an egocentric issue... I thought that computers were supposed to be called general computing devices to allow for any usage. This reminds me of the old "you're holding it wrong" by Jobs...

    If it's fine for you, great. But those are issues nonetheless. I don't pay for hardware to underperform, have less features than what appears on the box and/or burn my lap.

    Comment


    • #52
      Originally posted by gamerk2 View Post
      And...most hardware doesn't work out of the box for Windows?
      Well, that's right, most hardware does not until you install the proper driver. Some drivers are very difficult to find, and the only one available is the one supplied by the computer manufacturer which is usually very old and not always works as expected. Some old hardware does not work on recent versions of Windows, but do on Linux.

      Originally posted by gamerk2 View Post
      Out of curiosity, does the full feature set of the Auzentech HTHD work on Linux yet? I mean, USB headsets are about as basic a device as you can get, and Linux took years to get THAT working right...
      Don't know what you meand by "full feature set". I get the full 5.1 audio using mplayer or VLC while watching a movie that has multichannel audio, if that's what you mean. Recording also works. I've not tried hundreds of USB headsets, but all I have tried did work out of the box in the last 5 or so years.
      Last edited by glock24; 21 June 2012, 01:46 PM.

      Comment


      • #53
        There's some that think this was just about attacking Linux or that I'm somehow anti-open-source and pro-Apple pro-Microsoft for showing off the flaws of Linux. I'm just a realist and acknowledge that Linux isn't perfect.
        In case you're not aware there's a difference between real problem and some winboys bullshit.

        Comment


        • #54
          Originally posted by droidhacker View Post
          Video games = pasty whiteness, stinky, living in mom's basement, no life, virgin.
          Sorry if that offends you, but it is what it is.
          Not everyone who drinks alcohol is a drunkard and not everyone who plays games is the one you described. It's all about priorities.

          Comment


          • #55
            Originally posted by johnc View Post
            This is an example of why vendors like Gigabyte say "just use Windows".
            Linux users will tell you don't use gigabyte crap. It's windows centric, messed up motherboard.

            Comment


            • #56
              Chalk me up as another "gamer" that has a wife, kid, and mortgage. Granted, that time is much less now than in my single days. BTW, one could argue that virtually anything is a waste of time.

              I have had varying success with Linux on different hardware. Llano builds seems to give me the biggest fits, and my sandy bridge ProBook runs like a champ. However, more tweaking is needed to start rivaling Windows battery life. That's the pro and con, you can enhance your Linux experience, but it often requires a good deal of research and testing. The OOB experience isn't terrible, but not always optimal. Where MS has a theoretical advantage is that OEMs preconfigure the machines so everything is setup. Unfortunately, these days the preconfigured Windows machine has heaps of crapware that makes people blame hardware and MS. Still, any novice dropping in a windows install disk and installing from scratch could have issues, too, as Windows Update doesn't always install all hardware. I've even seen it recommend the wrong USB 3 controller driver after it has already been setup.

              And for what its worth, my gigabyte board works perfectly on 12.04.

              All that to say that I can agree with the author. You can't focus on improving things until you admit things needs work. All in all, I think Linux is much better than a few years ago, but I won't say it's "ideal" today. With the significant changes coming in Win 8, Linux has another golden opportunity to attract new users. A good initial experience is critical. You want the beginner to be focused on how to use the OS features, and less on configuration stuff.

              Comment


              • #57
                Originally posted by glock24 View Post
                Well, that's right, most hardware does not until you install the proper driver. Some drivers are very difficult to find, and the only one available is the one supplied by the computer manufacturer which is usually very old and not always works as expected. Some old hardware does not work on recent versions of Windows, but do on Linux.
                Ummm...nowadays, drivers are downloaded automatically when the OS starts. And for USB devices, most of the time, the generic USB driver at least makes those devices usable.

                I sometimes think people haven't used a version of Windows since 95 or something...

                Don't know what you meand by "full feature set". I get the full 5.1 audio using mplayer or VLC while watching a movie that has multichannel audio, if that's what you mean. Recording also works. I've not tried hundreds of USB headsets, but all I have tried did work out of the box in the last 5 or so years.
                Fully Dolby/DTS Bitstreaming/decoding, HDMI In/Out [including video, if connected to GPU], Output over Powered Headphone Amp [Variable Gain], 12 band EQ, full EAX 1-5 support, the standard X-fi enhancements, environmental effects, and the like.

                Again, headsets are simple, soundcards are much harder.

                Comment


                • #58
                  Originally posted by kraftman View Post
                  In case you're not aware there's a difference between real problem and some winboys bullshit.
                  Translation: Linux is perfect, and I don't want to hear about any "flaws", because they don't exist.

                  And people wonder why Linux on the Desktop is functionally dead to 99% of the population.

                  Comment


                  • #59
                    Originally posted by gamerk2 View Post
                    I sometimes think people haven't used a version of Windows since 95 or something...
                    This is very true. I'm always frustrated when I hear people talking about Linux 1999 when they go off on some critical rant.

                    But it's just as bad with the anti-Windows caricatures... "It crashes all the time... It's infested with viruses... It's slow and bloated..." Windows ME was like a dozen years ago. Things are different today.

                    (In fairness... when I installed Windows 7, it didn't have a LAN driver, so it couldn't download all the other drivers automatically. Getting and installing the LAN driver was trivial though (double-click to install). Compare that to installing a LAN driver on Linux.)

                    Comment


                    • #60
                      Originally posted by gamerk2 View Post
                      1: Thats why MS has the WHQL program, which has solved a LOT of the problems with poorly written drivers.
                      2: The majority of HW released has both XP and Vista/7 drivers. In a few cases, independent developers *gasp* have created ones that work. In other cases, the default OS driver is at least partially functional with the device in question. No offense, Linux isn't going to win the HW support argument over Windows.
                      No, I'm not saying that Linux has better hardware support, but different.
                      In Linux, if the driver it's not in the kernel and you're inexperienced with Linux, you're probably screwed.
                      In Windows, if the driver of the (normally old) vendor CD doesn't work well for you and you don't know how and where search the driver, you're probably screwed.
                      In both cases you have to get help (Internet, friends, etc) to get the hardware working.
                      By memory I can remember two cases of HP laptops with Vista only drivers (no XP, no 7), both of them have now Linux just for the drivers (and to get away from Vista ).

                      Of course Windows have better out-of-the-box support for new hardware because they have the hardware vendor's support and Linux don't.

                      Comment

                      Working...
                      X