[Leaplist] good read

[Hank Lambert]

Not me lol. Great article. There were a few things that stuck out. 
First, a good friend of mine is trying Linux. He is starting with the 
Ubuntu Live CD because everyone at his job stated that was the easiest 
to learn and get working, and being it was based on Debian, it was very 
stable. They also told him that he has to use ndiswrapper to get his 
wireless working because Linux doesn't natively support wireless. Not 
one of the "advise providers" is a Linux user. I will be helping him 
this weekend.

Second, Linux is getting better at installations and hardware 
compatibility. Two years ago, I tried to install Debian Sarge on a 
Fujitsu laptop and a Toshiba laptop. I never got wireless working, and I 
never got any further than vesa video drivers on either laptop. I just 
installed Debian Etch on my Gateway laptop, and it was almost perfect. 
It detected my Broadcom wireless, but the network manager in gnome only 
provides WEP. I configured the interfaces list, and it came up no 
problem. My only other task is to get the sound working, and I am making 
progress as I have eliminated all of the errors, just no sound. Point 
is, this install went without any install errors, and only left me with 
two issues. But as the article states, until the install can complete 
with a 100% success rate like Microsoft is perceived to, then it won't 
be a serious mainstream contender. But comparing Sarge to Etch on a 
laptop install, I would say we have made great strides.

--Hank

Fred Moore wrote:
> I don't know how many have come accross this article.. but it has about
> 10 really valid points that hinder Linux.. I think almost all of us are
> gilty at times.. Fred
>
> http://www.intranetjournal.com/articles/200803/pij_03_10_08a.html
>
>