On Sun, Dec 14, 2003 at 07:34:05PM -0500, Paul Morgan wrote:
> On Sun, 14 Dec 2003 17:26:49 -0500, alex wrote:
>
> [snip]
> > we tell which ones? My guess is that there just hasn't been any incentive
> > for manufacturers to 'bother' with even trying them on Linux. Could it
> > be that
> > they don't have any Linux knowledgeable people working for them?.
> > If manufacturers were targeted with mass mailing, I'll bet you'll see
> > "Wanted,
> > Linux geeks' in their hiring notices.
> >
> >
> > Who knows, perhaps if the machines available today were tested, there
> > might
> > be many that are fully compatible with Linux. There's no incentive to
> > do this.
> >
>
> If I were a PC manufacturer, I would answer Linux queries, "I have no
> reason to believe that any of my PCs are not compatible with at least one
> current release of Linux, but I can't guarantee that. I'll ship it to you
> with Windows XP/2003/whatever installed, and what you do with it after you
> get it is up to you. We don't currently provide Linux drivers, and we
> don't provide Linux technical support."
But how much would it cost to drop a Knoppix disk in, make sure it
boots, check that the network is accessible and sound comes out of the
speakers, and then stick a "Linux-compatible" sticker on the machine?
You could certainly still say that you don't provide drivers or support,
and you could make sure the fine print says "tested with Knoppix version
x.x: we offer no guarantee it'll work with other distros.")
Most people who are looking for Linux compatibility will be satisfied
with that: if it works under knoppix, then you know that there _are_
drivers for the hardware, even if you may have to do a bit of work to
get 'em going under, say, Debian. (like my #@^! D-Link NIC)
Cheers!
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