It will never happen and the answer is simple

[armandh]

one of the vexing problems with linux and Ubuntu is hardware compatibility.
some of the older stuff will likely never work.
the reasons vary but....
first: the company no longer exists, sorry no support!
second: its so old we don't support it in xp much less vista
third: "we support it in windows but are replacing it
and we may have linux drivers for the new xyz next year."
bla bla bla
no manufacturer is going to give extra life to last years product if they want to sell this years stuff

since manufacturers are scrapping for every sale, a very public "don't buy/not supported" list may coerce some support
it should have a big spot on every distro home page.

on the other hand this would dry up all that free hardware from the corporate moves to vista

[vikramaditya]

If Linux is ever adopted in sufficient numbers as a desktop os, hardware support will certainly improve. Unfortunately, I fear that people with influence in the right places will then hammer out ways to monetize the bejeezuz out of their new playground.

[Crafty Kisses]

I've never had any problem with hardware support, I have a couple of computers with old hardware and it works out of the box.

I understand where your coming from, but off brand names and people that made hardware 20 years ago are not gonna start making Linux drivers out of the blue, sorry not going to happen.

[aysiu]

You make it sound as if almost no hardware supports Linux. Quite the opposite is the case.

There are some no-no brands (Lexmark and Broadcom come to mind), but generally speaking hardware compatibility is pretty good.

Most hardware works without any configuration. Some theoretically compatible hardware require configuration file tweaks or proprietary drivers to be manually installed.

But it seems to me to be only a handful of uncooperative manufacturers who make things difficult for potential Linux migrants.

[mrgnash]

It's actually old hardware that usually has the best support -- once something has been around for awhile, it often gets written right into the kernel.

[karellen]

out of the box hardware support of Linux is superior to Windows. good luck hunting for drivers in Windows, especially for a no name brand

[saulgoode]

no manufacturer is going to give extra life to last years product if they want to sell this years stuff
Not all manufacturers consider their customers so naive as to buy a product this year which will not be supported next year.

[LaRoza]

More companies are offering support, not less. If you can prove there are more large hardware companies forming that don't support Linux than there are companies adding support, your argument is a fallacy.

For the first time, I saw a computer with Linux on it at Circuit City. More and more OEM's are adding Linux as an option. Linux user numbers are increasing. Now I can't say Linux will be dominant, but it is rising and can only get better support.

[smoker]

hardware support for linux is improving all the time, most of the problems i get about drivers are from vista users!

it's always wise to check the hcl before buying something new though, but if you have problems with one particular device, and post in the correct forum, there's usually someone has been there before, and has maybe an easy solution.

manufacturers are beginning to realise that they will have to cater for increasing linux use, or lose out.