General Observation

[leilton]

Just as a general discussion can one ask:

If Linux is so much better than Windows, and it is

So much more operator friendly, and it is

Run by and updated and improved upon by the users themselves, and it is

Why have I spent 5 days trying to connect to my wireless, (Broadcom 43), using four or five different Linux os, and I have

If, and I have no intention of going back to them, Windows can devise a system that immediately on installing give you both access by wireless and cable, why cant Linux?

Just a thought, and please no disrespect is meant to anyone connected to or employed by the various Linux os.

[elija]

JWhy have I spent 5 days trying to connect to my wireless, (Broadcom 43), using four or five different Linux os, and I have

I'm afraid you'll have to ask Broadcom why their Linux support is crap

[rokytnji]

Windows can devise a system that immediately on installing give you both access by wireless and cable, why cant Linux

Show me how Windows installs the drivers in their kernel. You either download the Windows Driver exe. (supplied by Broadcom I might add) or use the cd provided (by Broadcom I might add);

As usual. Elija hits the nail on the head with

I'm afraid you'll have to ask Broadcom why their Linux support is crap

That is why all my wireless chips are either Realtek or Raylink or Atheros.

You are misguided in thiinking any Linux Distro is at fault when the hardware vendor goes out of it's way to be Linux Unfriendly. And Besides.

How much hundreds of dollars did you spend to download and try any of those Linux Distros? Probably not enough money to buy a case of beer.

Windows is at war with any Operating system that
is not Windows. Hardware addons are drawn into this war. Some don't care what Windows think. Some are afeared as heck of losing business because of a backlash from Redmond. That is why I have a Asus EEEPC 900. Because this hardware is Linux Friendly.

$ inxi -F
System:    Host biker Kernel 2.6.32-1-mepis-smp i686 (32 bit) Distro antiX-M8.5 Marek Edelman 11 April 2010
CPU:       Single core Intel Celeron M (UP) cache 512 KB flags (nx sse sse2) bmips 1800.21 clocked at 900.105 MHz 
Graphics:  Card Intel Mobile 915GM/GMS/910GML Express Graphics Controller X.Org 1.7.7 Res: 1024x600@59.5hz 
           GLX Renderer Mesa DRI Intel 915GM GEM 20091221 2009Q4 x86/MMX/SSE2 GLX Version 1.4 Mesa 7.7.1 Direct Rendering Yes
Audio:     Card Intel 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) High Definition Audio Controller driver HDA Intel BusID: 00:1b.0
           Sound: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture Version 1.0.21
Network:   Card-1 Atheros AR5001 Wireless Network Adapter driver ath5k v: 0.6.0 BusID: 01:00.0
           Card-2 Atheros L2 Fast Ethernet driver atl2 v: 2.2.3 BusID: 03:00.0
Disks:     HDD Total Size: 24.3GB (16.9% used) 1: /dev/sda ASUS 4.0GB 
           2: /dev/sdb ASUS 16.1GB 3: USB /dev/sdc CardReader_SD0 4.1GB 
Partition: ID:/ size: 3.7G used: 2.0G (57%) fs: auto 
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 56.0C mobo: N/A 
           Fan Speeds (in rpm): cpu: 1334 
Info:      Processes 90 Uptime 2:46 Memory 147.3/2016.8MB Runlevel 5 Client Shell inxi 1.4.9

My Working Wireless Operating system install took all of 30 minutes. I boot,run, have the latest apps, and if the rest of the software world would join the Linux bandwagon. Then nothing would be hard for a New Linux User. Go to any software site and you will see downloads for Windows and Mac. That is why most users blame Linux when Linux is not to blame. We have to support our own.
Do a fine job of it also.

Happy Trails, Rok

[leilton]

Well I stirred up a hornets there.

My intention was not to critise, only to make an observation on my own experience.

To expand, I am at the age (and no not telling you what), when the liitle greys cells are slowing down. When, as I very often do, I read the various forums, a lot of the responses and the terminology used is way beyond me, and I suspect a few other Linux users.

To give an example one of the Linux users kindly gave me the details of where I could find details of how to connect Puppy (which is what I´m using at pressent),to wireless. It consist of six pages and I am still trying.

By the way one of the Linux distributors, Elive by name, but the less said about them the better, does exactly what I had hoped the os I chose would do.

I have no objection to paying for knowledge and expertise, when asked I will contibute.

No way will I ever go back to Windows, so I will keep soldering on, in the hopes of cracking the ways and means eventually.

I will watch and wait to see who I have now upset.

[elija]

This is a hornets nest?

Blimey! Don't go to a Slackware forum and say "Slackware... it's a little bit rubbish isn't it?"

As an owner of a laptop that has a Broadcom wireless chipset I do feel your pain and I have written to the company asking why their Linux support is so bad and stating that until they sorted it out I wouldn't be buying any products that had their chipset. I didn't even get a reply.

When I contact these companies, I feel kind of like a lone nut* as no-one else seems to bother. The problem of course is that if people don't contact them they won't know there's a demand.

Now-a-days I will only buy hardware that is Linux compatible.

* which could well be accurate!

[GNU-Fan]

When I contact these companies, I feel kind of like a lone nut* as no-one else seems to bother. The problem of course is that if people don't contact them they won't know there's a demand.

This is exactly what has never stopped to puzzle me. If a Windows user buys some hardware and it doesn't work, he or she returns it to the store, demanding a refund (i.e. for the hardware in question). Somehow it is understood that the hardware vendor is to be blamed. Why shouldn't they. They are the ones who get the money for the sales, after all.

In the GNU/Linux world, we got the interesting phenomenon that the Kernel or OS is being blamed. Meanwhile, the vendor doesn't even seem to get an angry mail/call from the customers in most of the cases. I wonder why this is.

[elija]

In the GNU/Linux world, we got the interesting phenomenon that the Kernel or OS is being blamed. Meanwhile, the vendor doesn't even seem to get an angry mail/call from the customers in most of the cases. I wonder why this is.

I do have a theory about that. It's kind of weak but it's the only potential answer I have.

Maybe Linux suffers from being too good at automagically detecting and configuring most hardware so that on the rare occasion that things don't work it becomes the fault of the operating system.

As I said; weak but it is plausible

[MikeTbob]

I do have a theory about that. It's kind of weak but it's the only potential answer I have.

Maybe Linux suffers from being too good at automagically detecting and configuring most hardware so that on the rare occasion that things don't work it becomes the fault of the operating system.

As I said; weak but it is plausible

That and the fact that most new to Linux people are seeking to "rejuvenate" their old machines with Linux. They aren't going out and buying hardware which means they cannot seek a return on defective/troublesome hardware. So the OS gets blamed for not supporting some hardware.

[rokytnji]

I will watch and wait to see who I have now upset.

I apologize if I seemed to come across as a Neathanderal Knuckle Dragging Linux Using Biker (which I am).

Misconceptions based on ignorance always chaps my hide. So I try to educate uneducated preconceived judgements. I tried to be nice ( I really did) with

Happy Trails, Rok

But being a biker. I guess I come across as a bit gruff. Sorry leilton. You keep plodding. I run Puppy also. But with my Hardware (which took me a while to learn what is Linux friendly) Puppy runs like a dog after a rabbit.

Good Luck with your Linux adventures. I am long in the tooth and self taught computer user with a GED. Linux wasn't easy for me at first. But slowly but surely, got easier to use. Made me smarter to.

Happy Trails, Rok

[impert]

Reason: to, two or too; which one do I use again?

Both.

And can anyone explain this:

The message you have entered is too short. Please lengthen your message to at least 10 characters.

?
I thought conciseness was a virtue.