“One of the reasons I still use Linux is because I had a good
first experience. I had a friend make a Webserver for me using
Slackware, a 486DX-33, 8 MB and a 300 MB hard drive … in 1994! My
college used it for three years as the homework site for a distance
learning course. I liked the idea of an OS that was robust enough
to do such a task with such basic hardware.”
“But I’ve had some bad Linux experiences as well. My first
AGP video card coughed up a hairball when I loaded RedHat 5.1. SuSe
6.4 called me bad names when I tried to install it on a Pentium II
with a GeForce2 MX … and that was last week. Lots of
hardware just doesn’t work under Linux, but it works fine under
Windows (yes, I said it … it sucks, but it’s true).”
“Now this isn’t really the fault of Linux as an OS. There are a
few major factors that prevent certain pieces of hardware from
functioning in Linux:
(1) Hardware vendors don’t release specifications without signing a
non-disclosure agreement the size of Bill Gates’ monthly bank
statement.
(2) Hardware vendors develop all drivers in-house and never give
specifications to anybody.
(3) Linux developers discount the hardware as “cheap crap” and
don’t make a driver for it.”