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View Full Version : does Ubuntu now have enough weight to ask companies to provide drivers?



nolliecrooked
June 16th, 2009, 04:35 AM
I would say that Ubuntu could maybe be classed as the third "big" O/S in a sense, so maybe Canonical could use this position?

kostkon
June 16th, 2009, 05:01 AM
Already does it in one way (http://www.ubuntu.com/news/sandisk-ssd-netbooks) or another (http://www.ubuntu.com/news/arm-linux), collaborates (better than asking) with companies to improve hardware support in Ubuntu.

nolliecrooked
June 16th, 2009, 05:08 AM
Already does it in one way (http://www.ubuntu.com/news/sandisk-ssd-netbooks) or another (http://www.ubuntu.com/news/arm-linux), collaborates (better than asking) with companies to improve hardware support in Ubuntu.

I was thinking more like peripherals. like WIFI dongles or w/e.

Dimitriid
June 16th, 2009, 05:13 AM
Too many small companies insist on making propietary drivers and not even revealing specs or revealing very little information. So there will always be a lof of no-name brand devices that will not have proper hardware support.

Best way to go about it is to support hardware companies who in turn support Linux, that way you at least make sure that they continue to support linux. Although it can go south from time to time ( i.e. Asus )

jonian_g
June 16th, 2009, 05:17 AM
If linux had the same marketshare in desktop as in servers then yes.
I think most of the wifi work. I have a usb netgear and a pci usrobotics and both work out ofthe box.

nolliecrooked
June 16th, 2009, 05:17 AM
Too many small companies insist on making propietary drivers and not even revealing specs or revealing very little information. So there will always be a lof of no-name brand devices that will not have proper hardware support.

Best way to go about it is to support hardware companies who in turn support Linux, that way you at least make sure that they continue to support linux. Although it can go south from time to time ( i.e. Asus )

I dont care if some of the drivers are proprietary, as long as their available.

jonian_g
June 16th, 2009, 05:20 AM
I dont care if some of the drivers are proprietary, as long as their available.

The problem with proprietary drivers is not only in an ideology manner but also means that you can't port them to linux.

nolliecrooked
June 16th, 2009, 05:21 AM
The problem with proprietary drivers is not only in an ideology manner but also means that you can't port them to linux.

they why do we have proprietary nvidia and ATi drivers?

jonian_g
June 16th, 2009, 05:26 AM
they why do we have proprietary nvidia and ATi drivers?

They have a linux version which Nvidia and ATI made. What I meant before is that if they had an open source driver for windows and they were not interested in porting it to linux, someone else would.

capink
June 16th, 2009, 10:57 AM
When Ubuntu have enough weight they will not need to ask.

Daisuke_Aramaki
June 16th, 2009, 11:38 AM
I saw an interview of Theo from OpenBSD project sometime ago, where he was discussing this issue. In essence he said that it is the Asian companies that are open enough to even get in touch with a few to get help in porting their drivers.

starcannon
June 16th, 2009, 11:56 AM
Ubuntu certainly has a great deal of users, but I think we pack way more punch when we ask for drivers as GNU/Linux as a whole. I tend to like the way Nvidia packages their drivers, and would like to see more advancement made in making a BINary driver easier to install for the point-and-click end user. I really think Nvidia is very close on this count; they have a great driver finder on their website, they have a great BINary installer, with a wee bit more tweaking to the installer it could be the cat's whiskers, very close indeed to being dirt simple.

nolliecrooked
June 16th, 2009, 11:58 AM
Ubuntu certainly has a great deal of users, but I think we pack way more punch when we ask for drivers as GNU/Linux as a whole. I tend to like the way Nvidia packages their drivers, and would like to see more advancement made in making a BINary driver easier to install for the point-and-click end user. I really think Nvidia is very close on this count; they have a great driver finder on their website, they have a great BINary installer, with a wee bit more tweaking to the installer it could be the cats whiskers, very close indeed to being dirt simple.

yea, killing X everytime you update the driver is a PITA.

Screwdriver0815
June 16th, 2009, 12:02 PM
like Dimitriid said: support these companies who provide drivers for their stuff!

So in my eyes Ubuntu does not need to have more weight to ask for drivers.
For each task in the modern computing life, a device is available which has a Linux driver.

So why should one buy a soundcard from abcxyz without any Linux driver when there is already a bunch of soundcards available where the drivers are included in the OS?
Or for example: why should I care about Canon or Lexmark printers when there are HP, Epson and Brother printers which have the best possible Linux support?
Or why should I buy a SIS graphics card when there are Intel, ATI and Nvidia?
Or why should I buy a no-name Laptop when there is a Lenovo, HP, Dell which support Linux very good?
Or why should I buy a xyzabc WLAN card when there is Intel?

and so on.

What I want to say is: we do NOT have any driver problems. The Linux users are just not aware enough of possibilities to support companies who support Linux. This circle of supporting each other (the company supports Linux and will in turn be supported by the users who buy their stuff) has to live!

Phreaker
June 16th, 2009, 12:07 PM
I recall that there were some petitions somewhere ...

Darkaiser
June 16th, 2009, 02:51 PM
i think ATI drivers supports Ubuntu

sorry if I have mistake

ssam
June 16th, 2009, 03:08 PM
i think ATI drivers supports Ubuntu

sorry if I have mistake

yes.

http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=article&item=canonical_catalyst_811&num=1

but opensource drivers are more what is needed. the linux driver project http://www.linuxdriverproject.org/ is doing a pretty good job.

forrestcupp
June 16th, 2009, 04:07 PM
The problem with proprietary drivers is not only in an ideology manner but also means that you can't port them to linux.True. But if the original company ports them for me, I don't care if I don't have the ability to do it myself.



So in my eyes Ubuntu does not need to have more weight to ask for drivers.
For each task in the modern computing life, a device is available which has a Linux driver.

What you're saying is true for people who are in the market for new hardware. If I'm buying new hardware, and I end up having trouble getting it to work, it's my own darn fault for not doing my homework and buying things that work well in Linux.

But there are a couple of flaws with that philosophy. What about all of the people migrating to Linux that already have computers that are hard to get working? If I'm someone like that, why would I want to have to go out and buy all new hardware just to run a free operating system?

Also, a lot more people are using laptops now. With most laptops, you can't change the hardware, and you don't have as much say in what kind of hardware you get, unless you spend a lot of money.

So, for people buying new hardware, you're absolutely right. But for the other cases, it would be nice to have more widespread vendor support.

Screwdriver0815
June 16th, 2009, 04:24 PM
True. But if the original company ports them for me, I don't care if I don't have the ability to do it myself.


What you're saying is true for people who are in the market for new hardware. If I'm buying new hardware, and I end up having trouble getting it to work, it's my own darn fault for not doing my homework and buying things that work well in Linux.

But there are a couple of flaws with that philosophy. What about all of the people migrating to Linux that already have computers that are hard to get working? If I'm someone like that, why would I want to have to go out and buy all new hardware just to run a free operating system?

Also, a lot more people are using laptops now. With most laptops, you can't change the hardware, and you don't have as much say in what kind of hardware you get, unless you spend a lot of money.

So, for people buying new hardware, you're absolutely right. But for the other cases, it would be nice to have more widespread vendor support.
okay, I partly agree. But:

1. when one has a normal desktop computer, it is quite sure that it is fully supported by Linux and drivers which are availabe. So if one buys a device which is not supported he/she must do extra effort to get this piece of crap errr I mean hardware ;) :D . If people do this, they should stay with Windows please :D

2. Laptops is a different thing. But I say: if you want to use Linux, you should previously get information if your machine can run it. If not, stay with the OS, the machine was delivered with.

its nothing wrong with staying with Windows. If someone really really desperatly wants to use Linux but owns a ??? Laptop (I don't even know which Laptop doesn't run Linux), then he will buy a new one. Like an Apple customer ;) If he doesn't: so what?

days_of_ruin
June 16th, 2009, 06:37 PM
yes.

http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=article&item=canonical_catalyst_811&num=1

but opensource drivers are more what is needed. the linux driver project http://www.linuxdriverproject.org/ is doing a pretty good job.

There are open source drivers for ati: http://www.radeonhd.org/

Darkaiser
June 17th, 2009, 11:33 AM
so thats y I change my OS into Ubuntu...heheehehe...