LinuxSA Mailing list archives

  From: Andreja Zivkovic <andy@zt.zivkotech.net.au>
  To  : LinuxSA <linuxsa@linuxsa.org.au>
  Date: Thu, 18 Nov 1999 11:37:11 +1030

RE: Need hardware supplyer sugestion (sic) + some info

I'll second what Toby's saying.

November last year I bought a brand new computer, with all new parts. At the
time my Riva TNT video card wasn't supported, and neither was my
Soundblaster Live (ok, so I bought that card a few months later). However,
now both work perfectly for my use in linux. Everything else works
perfectly, first go, and when I bought my hardware, I forgot all about Linux
support. I don't consider myself lucky that everything works, because Linux
is a good OS. Drivers seem to come out quite fast, so there's not much point
spending a lot of time worrying wether something is currently supported or
not.

Andy

> -----Original Message-----
> From: ruiner@foghorn.steadycom.com.au
> [mailto:ruiner@foghorn.steadycom.com.au]On Behalf Of Toby Corkindale
> Sent: Thursday, 18 November 1999 11:08 AM
> To: Alan Kennington
> Cc: kevin@oceania.net; LinuxSA
> Subject: Re: Need hardware supplyer sugestion (sic) + some info
>
>
> Alan,
> Call me a freak, but I've managed to get linux going on every system
> I've ever tried, including some pretty wierd ones at that.
> Remember that although most things aren't listed in the linux kernel
> drivers, most things ARE however based on them.
> THere's been a couple of times I've needed to hack the source code to
> get something to work, but that's 2 times out of hundreds and hundreds
> of other times.
> (Eg: A BTTV video card used the 848 chipset, but wasn't one of the known
> brands in the kernel. I modified a couple of lines in the kernel and it
> found it perfectly. THe next kernel revision included it anyway.)
>
> As long as you're not using bleeding-edge devices that don't have
> backwards support, linux generally works fine.
> However, it would be nice if hardware included a "Works with Linux"
> sticker on 'em.
> Opensource drivers would be nice too. My TV card works significantly
> better under linux than it does in windows with it's native drivers.
>
> Having a "Linux PC Shop" seems to make it sound like linux REQUIRES
> special hardware to work.
>
> Seeyas
> Toby
>
> PS. Ever tried getting non-linux unix to work on strange machines? Makes
> linux look easy by comparision.
>
> Alan Kennington wrote:
> >
> > Kevin,
> >
> > According to the oceania web page, you're in
> > Port Macquarie, NSW.
> >
> > This just emphasizes the lack of linux
> > stores in Adelaide.
> > I think that for decades, Adelaide and Perth
> > have been regarded as country towns by the
> > eastern states.
> > No matter what the reality is, it is still the
> > way that people think.
> > This is only a broadbrush view, of course.
> >
> > I have often stated that if a PC store in
> > Adelaide renamed itself to "Linux Adelaide"
> > or "Linux PC Adelaide" or something like that,
> > then they would have excellent prospects
> > for the next 10 years.
> > Of course, dual boot PCs could be a speciality.
> >
> > I don't know if PC stores actually make a
> > good profit. I imagine that it's a dog eat dog
> > business with lots of marginal operations.
> > But by dominating a single niche like linux
> > within our little country town, maybe a real
> > success could be made of it.
> >
> > More than anything, I _wanted_ to find a
> > linux PC store in Adelaide for the last 12 months.
> > I wasted huge amounts of valuable time doing
> > all of my own research into what works with linux
> > and what doesn't.
> > Unlike the (legacy) MS OS situation, hardware
> > suppliers are not yet providing a little
> > floppy disk or CD with drivers for their hardware.
> >
> > I still assert that adopting linux for one's home
> > PC requires courage and stamina.
> > A PC shop that it is going to specialize in
> > linux in Adelaide should do well.
> >
> > Q1:     What is the experience interstate?
> >         Are there shops in the eastern states
> >         (or Perth) which make linux a primary
> >         aspect of their publicity and advertising,
> >         or part of their business name?
> >         If so, do they get lots of linux customers,
> >         and do they get good business from that?
> >
> > Q2:     Are there any stores in our sleepy country
> >         town of Adelaide which do this? I.e. are
> >         there any which state in advertising etc.
> >         that they provide linux-friendly hardware?
> >
> > I think a problem with this, and which has been
> > expressed to me often, is that there's no money in
> > it, basically because linux users want everything for
> > nothing, and time is money. If someone needs a problem
> > dealt with in a legacy OS, you sell them more stuff
> > (hardware and/or software). If your customer has a linux
> > PC problem, you spend hours advising them, and then they
> > go out and get the solution free on the net.
> >
> > The only hope for a "linux PC shop" would be that
> > a linux specialist could, at least initially, get
> > good business out of selling hardware to a niche
> > that no one else can service.
> >
> > I think that over the next 10 years, linux should
> > grow very quickly. Everyone on this list probably
> > believes this. But no one in Adelaide believes in it
> > enough to bet their house on it.
> >
> > Maybe in the next 12 months, someone _will_ bet their
> > house on it, and open "Linux Adelaide", a PC shop
> > with staff wearing penguin suits, etc. etc. etc.
> >
> > Hmmm. Thinks: "Must develop terser literary style."
> >
> > Cheerio,
> > Alan Kennington.
> >
> > PS.  I almost certainly need to buy a laptop
> > in the next week or two, and I want to put linux
> > on it, and it has to be set up as a business computer,
> > which means that it must be able to create
> > and use MS-format documents and presentation slides.
> > Where on earth do I go to get this?
> > I can't afford to spend another 6 months researching
> > this. Time is money. Where is the "linux laptop shop"
> > in Adelaide where I can get this?
> > Maybe I have to look interstate??!
> >
> > --
> > LinuxSA WWW: http://www.linuxsa.org.au/  IRC: #linuxsa on
> irc.linux.org.au
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>
> --
> ..I started out with nothing...and I still have most of it left
>
> --
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