Re: (Kinda OT) What makes Debian cool?
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On Friday 25 January 2002 6:12 pm, Randy Orrison wrote:
> Hmmm... I must have missed the easy way to set up my sound card in
> Debian. In Windows, it was automatically recognised and configured and
> just worked. Is there really an easier way in Debian? Apparently (I
> haven't tried it) I have to actually either recompile my kernel, or at
> least a module, and choose which software to use... I've been saving
> the messages on this list about sound setup, but it doesn't look like it
> will be anywhere near as easy as it was in Windows, never mind easier.
> I'll dive into it one day when I can allocate a few uninterruped hours.
Its getting better - since experimenting with devfs (I actually compiled the
kernel) and the debian module devfsd everything is much more modular. In
fact all I had to do was create the following file /etc/modutils/akcmods
=====================
# AKC 10th Dec 2001
# v1.0 Special alias file
# These seem to be standard modules not covered.
alias net-pf-17 af_packet #packet filter
alias char-major-6 lp
#NVdriver puts this in aliases - but better in here
alias char-major-195 NVdriver
#define sound card
alias /dev/sound emu10k1
#define scsi host adapter
alias scsi-hosts aic7xxx
#logitech joystick (? - not sure if I have right model)
alias /dev/joystick adi
# Link my dvd drive
alias /dev/dvd ide-cd
# These two lines are in place because /etc/modutils/1devfsd then maps
# to the actual modules (and calls scsi-hosts - see above)
alias /dev/cdrom /dev/sr0
alias /dev/cd-r /dev/sg0
=====================
The alias /dev/sound tells the system what my sound card is and thats all I
have ever had to do to get sound to work (in kde at least which is what I use)
[must admit I haven't had to get to the joystick yet - a logitech wingman
force 3d so am not sure I have the right thing]
[although I have created /dev/cd-r I've never used it as the CD burner has
searched the hardware and found the device]
>
> And then there's my CD burner
kcreatecd
>and my printer to set up, both of which
> "just worked" under Windows.
cupsys
Although I did run the web based tool to create a link to the printer which
happens to be on a windows box across my network.
>
> Part of the problem with all these is that there are _too_many_ choices
> for software support -- "apt-cache search sound | egrep '^alsa'" returns
> 26 packages, and then there's esd and asd and how many mixers? It would
> go a long way to increasing the acceptance of Debian (and Linux in
> general, though I really don't know if others are any better) if the
> installer recognized and configured more hardware, and installed a
> reasonable default package to use it. (As for recompiling a kernel --
> you must be joking!)
For me that range of tools is one of the plus points. To make things simple
I always fireup dselect rather than use the command line packaging tools.
That way I can scan whats available. With debian its so easy to install
something, if you don't like it just take it out again.
>
> This isn't a flame, or a troll, or a request for help or advice (though
> the latter may follow); I'm just pointing out that there are things that
> are easier in Windows than Linux. I've switched this machine to Debian
> from Windows NT and I'm not going back! Also, I have already done a
> kernel compile for a different machine, it's not that bad for someone
> who is technically competent, but there's no way my mother would be
> capable of even contemplating doing it.
You would enjoy the Aunt Tillie thread on the kernel mailing list.
- --
Alan - alan@chandlerfamily.org.uk
http://www.chandlerfamily.org.uk
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