Go to page: 1 2 3  

Printer Friendly Version

Hurdle 4: Wireless is a mess

Contrary to popular belief, this is not thanks to a lack of driver modules and chipsets designed to work with desktop Linux. No, it is the distro developers lack of commitment to making darn sure that open source drivers receive precedence over those of the restricted variety.

Now, I will give some restricted drivers a pass here, but I simply have to roll my eyes at anything with the word Broadcom in it. From what I have seen and even tried myself, anything using their chipsets will fail 9 times out of 10. Yet so many Linux distros give credence to this chipset! Why? Because most made for notebooks come with one or two options -- Intel or Broadcom. And increasingly this choice is becoming Broadcom, because it is cheap and Windows friendly.

In the end, users are cheap and want to use what came with their notebooks -- very few exceptions here. Suggest that they go out and purchase from one of the no-name wireless vendors that do support Linux and the user will balk at the very idea.

With this hurdle, I would say there is a shared responsibility. While blaming vendors is getting old, they are part of the problem. But at its core, responsibility can be seen with those distributions that promote wireless compatibility without promoting the wireless devices that back this up. Ignore all you like, the single biggest complaint with migration to Linux is and has always been wireless compatibility.

Hurdle 5: Hardware compatibility lists

The day we can kick this term to the curb will be a happy day indeed. OS X and Windows enjoy easy-to-understand labels on the sides of boxes for a deeper understanding of which OS that device will function with. Any needed drivers are happily included on a CD and are even available for easy download from the manufacturer's web site.

With desktop Linux, I don't think so. No, you are bound to the words on a web page for your distro called a HCL or hardware compatibility list. And in some cases, these lists are horribly out of date, and even when they are not, do not even approach the value of having the hardware vendor supporting your product.

Now there have been improvements here, such as with Creative and HP. Both companies maintain open source web sites with drivers, documentation, and other help for getting a fair selection of their products working. Unfortunately, most people would never know this unless they already had the device, did some research, and if lucky, stumbled upon this fact.

Hurdle 6: When a new driver module is needed, it means compiling

While software management with distributions using dpkg and RPM are light years ahead of their proprietary counterparts, driver installation is painful. Let me be clear, I have been using Linux distributions of one flavor or another for years. Yet compiling a new module into the mix is one of the most detested things in the world as far as I am concerned. Not because I am unable to chase down the series of errors that will come about from missing this, that, or the other thing. Rather, the simple fact is that it is NOT duplicable. Unless you are an experienced hobbyist, possess Zen-like patience, or have experience as a Linux system admin, there is no way on this Earth anyone is going to have success here. I say this having tried to, along with others, walk users through this jungle.

To reiterate, compiling at its purist is easy. Getting it to work without massive headaches is a joke unless you possess some basic old-school experience.

Hurdle 7: Serious commercial interest

Let me further qualify. Novell, Red Hat, IBM, Intel, and countless others have put in millions of hours and untold sums of cash into making sure that Linux is in a position to do what they need it to do. And during the process, a number of things have been given back to the community. Unfortunately, movies and music companies are not on this list.

This said, Amazon is taking the bull by the horns and appears to be changing this to a fair extent. They are currently offering their downloadable, DRM-free music to Linux users via a new made-for-Linux application. This is very cool. Just one problem -- they sell MP3s. Now assuming you are willing to dance around the controversy here in the states over IP rights and the MP3 itself, great. But it is a lot like selling Microsoft Office for Linux. Sure, people would use it, but I am willing to bet an even greater number would appreciate access to something "like" StarOffice, which is based on the open source product, OpenOffice. So it seems to me seeing Amazon offering both MP3s and Ogg Vorbis music files would make me feel a lot better.

Then there is the problem of mainstream blockbuster movies being accessible on the Linux platform. If you happen live outside of the U.S. or simply are not concerned with the undefined rules as to using libdvdcss, and its behind-the-scenes use of brute force decryption, then this is not a hurdle for you. Unfortunately for those who wish to sell PCs with DVD playback already installed in the US, this is a concern.

The simplest way around this is by using the Linux distribution known as Mandriva, or buying a PC from Dell who now bundles select models with Ubuntu and MPAA-safe DVD viewing options. As you can see, it is quite a mess and the idea has largely frightened away most retailers as they would just as soon stay in the clear regardless of what the law in the US actually dictates. After all, you can sue anyone for just about anything. And principle can become mighty expensive really quickly.

Go to page: 1 2 3  

Printer Friendly Version

Other Resources

from Intranet Journal

Intranet Journal Discussion Forum 10 Open Source Apps for Enterprise Users Why Ubuntu Linux Tops Debian 10 Leading Open Source Innovators

from JupiterWeb