On Sunday 26 February 2006 09:56 am, Sandy Drobic wrote:
kai wrote:
On Saturday 25 February 2006 11:09 pm, Bryan S. Tyson wrote:
On Saturday 25 February 2006 5:13 am, Per Jessen wrote:
I have to say - someone who switches operating system ("I haven?t used Linux since November") purely because his graphics card isn't supported needs a rethink of priorities.
There is a rumor floating around that the OS is meant for programs to run and not the other way around. If his priority is to have the display running at the specified resolution, so he can use it efficiently without burning his eyeballs out, I would consider that a valid reason to change.
Completely disagree. I can see a reason to downgrade to Windows if the user MUST use something like Archibus or AutoCAD or another OS-specific application. However, the person simply griped about not being able to get the ATI driver to run in his specified mode. I recently bought a second Dell laptop with the intention of running SUSE for a friend. When I found out (after the fact) that it came with a non-standard video and WiFI (broadcom) card and a Windows-only printer, I promptly shipped it back. I then ordered another one, being more careful to pay attention to my choice of hardware. My friend is now in the posession of a slightly more-expensive laptop which runs SUSE just fine.
Yes, why not switch his videocard instead of his OS. Switch to Nvidia which the article repeatedly states has much better Linux support, then email ATI telling them why you switched and that you will not be buying any more ATI cards until the Linux support is up to par.
Perfect hindsight, as it happens often. I agree, he should have made certain BEFORE buying his hardware that it will run with the desired distribution. It is after all well known that driver issues are a source of trouble when you buy the latest hardware.
I can't imagine downgrading to Windows just because of the video card. It is almost as pathetic and stupid as my co-workers who insist on having Wintendo around just to "play games."
Maybe it would help if you encounter some people who see the computer as a tool to do their work. They don't really care what OS they are running as long as they can use the programs the have to work with, store their files print them with ease.
I am one of those people. I use computers all day long in my business and in my side companies. Yes, I could choose to drive a Yugo and put up with all the crap involved or I can drive a Chevy 2500HD which gets the job done. Guess which I choose on a daily basis? There are a few instances where I need to downgrade to Microsoft technology. For those rare instances I have Crossover Office on my laptop and desktops. In this manner, I get to run MS Project, Visio and the occasional Excel spreadsheet.
I regularly encounter users that I have to explain to how to save a file and how to find it again after they saved it.
I equate that to removing all airbags and half the brakes on the car in order to drive faster.
No, just equate it to using the known tools and having no need and no desire to learn something else. Sigh... yes, there are people like that all around us, they even present the majority of the users.
Well, that's not entirely the case. Take my mother, for example. I upgraded her last March from Win98 to SuSE 9.2 and she's been very happy with the switch. Her only major gripe is with the GIMP and the f**&ed up user interface. In fact, I finally gave up and installed her copy of Photoshop 6 on the system last week. (She really loves KMail, OpenOffice, Firefox and is learning Inkscape.) I'm right now contemplating how to upgrade her to 10.0 or to 10.1 without messing up her home directory. :P Okay, now I'm bordering on ranting. Maybe I should fire up Pan and get to Comp.OS.Linux.Advocacy. -- kai - www.perfectreign.com www.livebeans.com - the new NetBeans community