Can Linux go mainstreaM


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I saw the latest article title "Can Linux go mainstream" and it prompted me to post this question.

I installed the latest Mandrake Distro on my Celeron 700 Gateway laptop. Unfortunately it has no built in ethernet port and because of the stupid design of the case I cannot use ANY of the newly designed PCM/CIA cards.

I have a Belkin USB ethernet connector: http://catalog.belkin.com/IWCatProductPage...oduct_Id=104991

This works GREAT on all flavors of Windows but I cannot find any way of getting it to work on Linux.

Any suggestions?

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I have looked for (even generic usb ethernet) adapter drivers, to no avail.

I have used Linux off and on for years and find it difficult to use as the turnaround time for "good" driver support for new hardware is out of this world.

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"ok you still havent exactly told us what youve done"

Yes I have: "I have looked for (even generic usb ethernet) adapter drivers, to no avail."

"and what errors you are getting.."

No errors, just no support for the hardware.

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linux won't ever go "mainstream" unless it stops being a hobbyist development project which means it won't remain free which won't happen so no.

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^ what he said

Linux can never go mainstream, or should i say, "probably wont" ever go mainstream , due to it's high lack of support for a lot of different hardware, it's complicated hardware installation processes (I remember trying to install my Audigy card drivers on Redhat 8 and 9 , and i wanted to shoot myself because it wouldnt work)

Then again, I don't REALLY have the time to sit down and tinker all day, or read books on it, or websites, so I prefer an OS that just plain WORKS, and i think most average consumers do too.

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linux won't ever go "mainstream" unless it stops being a hobbyist development project which means it won't remain free which won't happen so no

While I do agree that for the most part (atleast the near future) GNU/Linux will not become "mainstream" (meaning Joe Blow average desktop luser OS). However, to still consider it a hobbyist develop project shows how little people know about how far it has come. Companies like IBM, HP, SGI, and so forth aren't just selling hardware and license they are making contributions as well.

The only people who still consider it a hobbyist OS are Microsoft marketing goons and the hordes they've brainwashed.

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No it can't, and won't.Your living in a Microsoft world, get used to it!Stop making Linux free and slap a price tag on it, then watch whos interested still (no one).

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Your living in a Microsoft world, get used to it

I am not and I never will, I have been living MS free for about a year now, perfectly happy and able to do more with my computer then I ever thought was possible :p

**** MS, nobody needs any of the crap they make, better stuff is available at lower costs from better companies.

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Like I said, it can go mainstream when demand is created. There will be no demand untill the OS is given a straight forward file system, actual standards, better ways of installing software (RPM's are great, but if you cant find one for your distro then you have to compile usually) and the OS needs to dumbed down enough for the average user who only wants to surf the net and check email.

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No it can't, and won't.Your living in a Microsoft world, get used to it!Stop making Linux free and slap a price tag on it, then watch whos interested still (no one).

Errrr... I bought a few copies of Linux CD-ROMs. First time was when I had no boradband (way back in 1999! lol). But I purchased another copy in November. It provides financial support to the companies who work at packaging it up.

I could never go back to Windows. This, however, is an individual choice. Everyone is free to choose what works best for them.

As for hardware 'just working' in Windows.... No kidding! This is a natural result of vendors building to work with Windows. Some vendors don't release specs on how thier boards, etc. interface to the OS, and Linux developers have to try to reverse-engineer these things. More and more companies are comign around and providing drivers on their own (like nVidia), or at least documenting how their equipment works. And, as major corporations put money behind them and buy more and more Linux servers (and some workstations), this will only get better.

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Errrr... I bought a few copies of Linux CD-ROMs. First time was when I had no boradband (way back in 1999! lol). But I purchased another copy in November. It provides financial support to the companies who work at packaging it up.

I know, thats why I said "stop making linux free", no one is forcing you to buy those cds, you could have downloaded it if you wanted to.

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It'll never happen. Without proper driver (oh, excuse me..."MODULE") support for new hardware, nobody's going to want to use it. By the time drivers magically appear, better hardware will be released. The latest problem I had was with the ATI 9700 - no drivers, so literally no video, even after playing with Xconfigurator and tweaking the file by hand (it wouldn't even get me in X in 640x480x8).

But there's a spiffy new iTunes clone :rolleyes:

So, no. Never.

And that's a fact.

Mike

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oh God...starman...please dont bother...

we KNOW you think linux will never go mainstream and its not that i dont agree with you..but ther are conditions to why that is.

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well Starman, you've written UNIX drivers before. Why don't you give it a try? ;) Again you're blaming software when its the hardware companies fault. btw, there are drivers for the ATi Radeon 9700, both from the linux community (DRI) and from ATi themselves.

*puts on his lucky flame retardant underwear* :whistle:

Edited by code_monkey
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I find it a little odd that someone can say that "Linux will never be ready for the mainstream", and base it off a case of an ATI video card problem, when ATI is a known vendor that does not cooperate with the Open Source movement, and release drivers or interface specs for their video cards.

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But AT THE TIME IT WAS RELEASED AND THREE MONTHS AFTER THAT there were no drivers.

Three months in the video card business is like half a life cycle for the Next Big Thing.

Again you're blaming software when its the hardware companies fault.

No, I said specifically that it's the hardware vendors' fault.

I said:

"Without proper driver (oh, excuse me..."MODULE") support for new hardware, nobody's going to want to use it. "

I wouldn't expect the Linux community to write proper drivers without specs from any company, and that's probably not going to happen. If I were a hardware company, I wouldn't want some 16-year-old punk writing crappy drivers for my hardware because it might make my hardware look bad.

Mike

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