Re: Ubuntu came with no wifi connection
Companies supplying computer products in this day in time are unwise to ignore Linux, as many used to do, because it is by far and away the most used operating system in the world.
Quite correct; however, no one goes to Amazon to buy a USB wireless adapter for their supercomputer or their Android phone. However, when one buys a USB wireless adapter from Amazon, Newegg or even Ebay, it almost never comes with a driver CD or download link for a *working* Linux driver.
As well, we both regret that the lions share of the desktop market is still dominated by Windows; simply because when a new user bought the computer, Windows was preinstalled and the built-in wireless worked.
Is the state of Linux wireless drivers as bad as you appeared to indicate?
Not at all. It's only bad for the reasons you already acknowledged:
That is not to say that users such as jorgge won't see an issue at times because users with bleeding edge systems may have cards where the driver has simply not found its way into the distro they are using due to lag between driver being in the kernel and the kernel finding its way into the new distro they are using.
Every six months or so, we go through the same things. This year, it is Intel's new Wifi6 products. The driver doesn't appear until kernel version 5.11. That means that lots of LTS Ubuntu users won't have it.
I understand that as long as Linux keeps its current development model, we will see some delays in getting drivers for some hardware out there into the lastest distros but that can be worked on and progress can be made. Times change and progress can be continued.
Exactly!
No ruckus here. My only point was that if a new user brings a shiny 2021 laptop to the table, depending on what Ubuntu version is installed, the wireless might or might not work, unlike Windows.
By the way, none of my comments are directed at quality. Almost every device I am aware of works perfectly well once the correct driver is installed. Well, actually, the ath10k_pci devices are a bit funky.
"Oh, Ubuntu, you are my favorite Linux-based operating system" --Dr. Sheldon Cooper, B.Sc., M.Sc., M.A., Ph.D., Sc.D.
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