--- Darryl Gregorash
Scenario:
a brand new SuSE user buys a brand new computer and gets a brand new internet connection from a service provider. They are of course shifty folks, and sell him on the idea of connecting to their brand new city-wide wireless network (and of course, this will not add to the traffic on their already-saturated cable network, so it is a benefit to them).
Oops, our brand new SuSE user has bought 10.1, and has no wifi support on the DVD.. he cannot get on the internet to download the wifi module(s) he needs, and what is even worse, the 10.1 installer probably will not even tell him he needs to do so (even if it does happen to recognize his nifty new 802.11n prototype card the ISP is hawking which it probably won't).
All of you who think the kernel developers are smart folks, and who think our brand new SuSE user is going to dash off to his local city library, floppy in hand, to download, configure/compile, and install the module source he needs (to say nothing of recompiling the kernel, if necessary), please raise your hands.
None of you? How many think our brand new SuSE user will simply toss his package into the trash, and dash off to buy <the operating system from Redmond>, which he knows from all his friends will support his nifty new wireless card, right out of the box?
(For Jeff Rollins: this is sarcasm and condescension, not abusiveness -- I trust/hope you know the difference.)
I must say I was very grateful that I have other systems that work and I haven't upgraded yet. Meanwhile, what other modules will I find I don't have? So far stuff is working fairly well (except vmware at least). Cheers, Simon "You can tell whether a man is clever by his answers. You can tell whether a man is wise by his questions." Naguib Mahfouz __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com