Hi,
Firstly, thanks all, for the comments about the site (I really appreciate it) and also about the suggestions on making bmc4310 work. I am sorry, I wasn't too clear about that bit, I should have said haven't got it working in my setup yet -- which means with WAP-PSK support. Right now, I am using the broadcom's (proprietory with binary blob) wl module[1] which works only in open networks (I have not tried WEP). Even using the windows driver with ndiswrapper works with just open and WEP enabled networks, not with WAP-PSK ...anyways, like I said, native upstream kernel support will come in a couple of months[2].
Anyways, about jtd's comments:
Plenty of resources are already available on the net. However these are mostly about hardware available in the US and Europe. Hardware available here are substantially different and for shorter durations. So it is a constant battle to keep finding out the best fit for linux.
Exactly ! ...and that's the reason why I set up tuxcompatible.com. Most of the times, the hardware available locally would use same or similar chipsets, but they would be branded by different companies (sometimes chinese, taiwanese or korean) and this leads to confusion. The resources available on the net usually just discuss compatibility and/or performance. There is no (or at least no 'well known') linux centric *marketplace* online -- this is what I hope to achieve with tuxcompatible.com (or even encourage professional web-developers/companies to consider as an viable bussiness).
Further given the very random and one time requirements of desktop users, their unwillingness to understand the soup they are in and reluctance to change, supporting individual newbie desktops is a major pain.
Well, I totally agree with the unwillingness to understand compatibility issues ! My dad or Uncle (who are not just linux but /computer/ newbies) should not have to worry about the level of linux support a device has when purchasing it. It should *just work* ....of course this is far from ideal right now. The next best thing to do, IMHO, was to at least give then one place where they can go to purchase their hardware. That's what tuxcompatible.com hopes to achieve (or ever encourage ...blah blah ..)
Hardware compat is a minor issue. File formats and user apathy are the main problems.
Oh, that's is a different problem altogether. Users apathetic to change should best not venture to linux until they are ready, else it just screws up the experience for them.
regards - steve -- Want hardware that Just Works on your linux box ? Try: www.tuxcompatible.com
[1] http://www.broadcom.com/support/802.11/linux_sta.php [2] http://linuxwireless.org/en/users/Drivers/b43?action=show&redirect=en%2F...
On Wed 12/11/08 11:54 AM , jtd jtd@mtnl.net.in sent:
On Tuesday 11 November 2008 16:46, Steve wrote:
Anyways, long story short, I got frustrated with the fact that I
have to do this> 'research' every time I need some new hardware, so, I thought of> setting this up:
Plenty of resources are already available on the net. However these are mostly about hardware available in the US and Europe. Hardware available here are substantially different and for shorter durations. So it is a constant battle to keep finding out the best fit for linux. Further given the very random and one time requirements of desktop users, their unwillingness to understand the soup they are in and reluctance to change, supporting individual newbie desktops is a major pain. Hardware compat is a minor issue. File formats and user apathy are the main problems.
-- Rgds JTD -- http://mm.glug-bom.org/mailman/listinfo/linuxers