On Fri, Sep 07, 2007 at 11:32:27AM -0500, Les Mikesell wrote: > While I agree that there is a potential for cases you can't compare, > there is a large overlap that you can: the case where all the components > are designed to operate together and the OS is aware of them. Ah--I'm not aware of that situation in a PC-based world. Every vendor uses components from third-party providers, even if they're branded for the vendor. > And how does that differ conceptually from buying a system integrated by > Dell, HP, etc. and pre-loaded with an OS? Totally. Dell, HP, etc. buy third-party cards and component systems, and generally use the drivers from those vendors. Apple pretty much rolls their own, AFAIK. > The issue is why an end user should encounter any such problem. The > fact that you _can_ build a windows or linux box out of an experimental, > never-tried-before combination of parts and software doesn't mean it is > a good idea if you aren't a design engineer looking for a new problem to > solve. It happens _all_ the time in the PC world. People trot into Best Buy, Circuit City, CompUSA--well, not there so much, any more--and numerous on-line vendors, and buy all manner of cards and peripherals; no single vendor will have tested all the permutations end-users come up with. Good idea? Prolly not. Reality? Absolutely. > Yes, and my experience over the last 5 years has been that the Windows > versions are more dependable than the fedora versions. I'm sure there > are individual exceptions to that, but I just don't see fedora as a > bastion of stability here - or in a position to claim that they have the > only approach to drivers that can work. And why should anyone ever EXPECT Fedora to be stable? Fer Ghu's sake, it's the experimental, bleedin' edge release for RedHat. I could NEVER suggest Fedora to a client, or even to someone who doesn't have "playing with dynamite" on their resume as a favored past-time. Fedora will have the latest'n'greatest, coolest stuff in the FOSS world. And it's *going* to break; face it. That's why it's on my laptop and test system, and not on my server. > The Vista approach deserves to fail for the same reasons DRM does, but > the driving force has to be consumer reaction. If something is > difficult to use, don't use it. Oh, that's a different world'o'argument. Cheers, -- Dave Ihnat President, DMINET Consulting, Inc. dihnat@xxxxxxxxxx 773/550.0929
