Christian Convey <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > Hi guys, > > Recently I've spent a lot of time digging through udev / hotplug > issues, getting to know modprobe, modules.conf, alsaconf, XF86Config-4 > etc. This was all to get a digicam and a flashdrive to be useful, or > to make sound/video work. > > As much as I like Linux and its ideals, I thought to myself, "I've > never had to deal with issues like these in Windows. I buy a product, > plug it in, and almost always, it just works." > > I'd really like to advocate Linux more to friends and family, but I > just don't feel like I can recommend the OS to non-techies until > dealing with hardware gets easier. > > Do you guys have any reflections on why, for technical / social / > market / whatever reasons, this difference exists between the two OS's > exists? And are those differences necessary or accidental? > There *is* no significant difference. Sure some hardware is harder to install than others, but that is about it.
Go look at any Windows help forum, and you will see: - Instructions to dialog boxes 10 levels deep (yes I am exaggerating, but just a bit). - Instructions to deinstall and reinstall system components that the average user would go 'huh?!' about. - Registry tweaks up the wazoo. I don't see much difference. I run Linux-only at home, and I am just as lost on a Windows box as you have been on a Linux box. It appears different because you are used to Windows' problems, and therefore tend to overlook them. I know *I* tend to overlook problems in my Linux installs until I sit someone else down at one of them (less these days since I have to support a couple of relative newcomers). Mart -- Sic transit gloria mundi... -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
