What is Digg?Sponsored by Travelzoo
Take Advantage of Ridiculously Low Holiday Airfares view!
travelzoo.com - Flights $52 and up for Thanksgiving, Christmas & New Year. But move on it now.
125 Comments
- XVampireX, on 10/10/2007, -10/+7245 minutes for a god damn driver is bad
- jbus, on 10/10/2007, -3/+36If it took you 45 minutes to get it working, either brother needs to review their "step by step instructions" or you need to get some outside help following those instructions. My no good for nothing multi-function Epson printer took about 5 to 10 seconds to get working on Ubuntu and I'm serious about the "no good for nothing" part.
- jeffeb3, on 10/22/2007, -1/+26over the network though? Scanning over the network? That's not an easy task.
- richempire, on 10/10/2007, -1/+25Well, I Admit I had no clue on what I was doing and it only took me so long because the instructions mounted the printer as a USB, mine is on the network on a different room over wi-fi and I needed to figure out how to point to it. I'm sure that someone with more knowledge/experience than me, or of connecting the printer locally can get this going in no time. To me 45 minutes from start to finish including research is nothing considering a few DAYS to get the NVIDIA driver the first time. Please don't focus on my inexperience not my lack of knowledge but on the fact that a reputable company like Brother is finally taking Linux Seriously. and I also agree with jbus, if they would have had the instructions right on how to connect to the printer over the network, it might have taking me a lot less.
- SimonGray, on 10/10/2007, -1/+19And it takes less than 5 seconds on Fedora / next Ubuntu because it configures automatically, Your point? This is a bit more advanced than just "a printer driver".
- davidrools, on 10/10/2007, -0/+16next kernel version will probably have all the drivers preloaded, so you plug it in and it's ready to go. That's how most hardware works in linux now. So while it takes Windows/Mac users 5 minutes (more realistically 15-20 minutes including going to the website to download the latest driver, then run the setup app, then reboot), it takes but seconds and requires no clicks or anything for the Linux user.
- VenTatsu, on 10/10/2007, -0/+15All Linux Kernel drivers are Linux Kernel modules, but not all modules are drivers.
- Gavagai80, on 10/10/2007, -4/+165 minutes is horrible. All my printers have required 0 seconds to set up in linux, since the OS pre-supports a vast number of them. That's why Windows and Mac are terrible for desktop use.
- jeffeb3, on 10/22/2007, -2/+13Don't we call them modules, not drivers?
- Xanium4332, on 10/10/2007, -3/+14No, Windows supports almost nothing, drivers are written for windows to help improve it's support. Ubuntu comes with almost every driver, and 9/10 times you won't need to do anything special.
- sauvaget, on 10/10/2007, -0/+11the debian files work fine with ubuntu.
- Cl1mh4224rd, on 10/10/2007, -0/+9> ". . .and I'm serious about the "no good for nothing" part."
So... it's good for everything? Awesome printer. - pooptaster, on 10/10/2007, -0/+9On my laptop, the only devices that have full functionality on a fresh Windows install for me are my mouse, monitor, keyboard, and hard drive.
I have to go out and get drivers for my graphics card, sound card, touchpad, network card, wireless card, some special stuff for my chipset, the special keys on my keyboard...you get the point. - burty89, on 10/10/2007, -1/+10And you can then scan over a network right? In 5 minutes?
Getting a printer working in recent Linux distros involves just plugging it in and waiting a few seconds for it to be detected (or if there's no driver in the distro then one needs to be installed, just as on windows/OS X/[insert random os here]). - 1n4007, on 10/10/2007, -1/+10And this once again proves that Ubuntu users don't have a clue what they're actually using. sad
- spltimg, on 10/10/2007, -1/+9Always digg for an organization supporting FOSS
- Spr0k3t, on 10/10/2007, -2/+10Well said, doesn't take me more than 5 minutes to get a mostly working PS printer up.
- doodlebumm, on 10/10/2007, -1/+9It takes me less time to set up a Ubuntu system than it does a Windows XP system. Drivers are mostly all preloaded and ready to go in Ubuntu, while most new hardware will require a driver on XP. I just loaded a system with 3 year old hardware with XP/SP2. I had to load about 8 drivers to get it to all work properly. I loaded Ubuntu on it and it just ran. Not only that, but I had more applications on Ubuntu than I did on XP, and it took less time to load, and was easier to load. Hmmm. I think that Ubuntu wins that race. Sure there are some things that take longer on Ubuntu. I'd be a fool to say that there isn't, but I'll take Ubuntu over XP any day.
- Wrathernaut, on 10/10/2007, -0/+8These guides have been around for quite some time... I have had my Brother 3820CN all-in-one running on my network for about a year now.
Step-by-step worked so well that I'm surprised these drivers are not included with Ubuntu and other distros. - Beatmiser, on 10/10/2007, -1/+8Calling it "Winblowz" really makes me not give a ***** about your argument.
- kingrayray, on 10/10/2007, -0/+7No, we don't. Because a kernel module isn't necessarily a device driver. :)
- neomis, on 10/10/2007, -0/+7Ubuntu falls under the category of Debian
- AnarkeIncarnate, on 10/10/2007, -0/+7debian package
- burty89, on 10/10/2007, -1/+7I agree in this case, but don't generalize, not everyone using Ubuntu is ignorant.
- Liamm, on 10/10/2007, -0/+5This is nothing new. I've been using a Brother MFC-420CN for a couple years now with Brothers drivers and instructions, Scanning printing and faxing over the network. Buried
- hexydes, on 10/10/2007, -0/+5Then for the bleeding edge, they can install it themselves, or for the other 99% of users, they can wait six months or less to get it in the next update.
- Wrathernaut, on 10/10/2007, -0/+5Brother printers, or linux? Linux does.
- goffy59, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4I use windows, but your a ***** idiot. I recently gave Linux a try and all the things Linux fan boys claim about Linux happen to ALL be true. Linux supports more devices and has more drivers. Linux is powerful tool if you get off your lazy ass and actually try to use it. I gave it my all for 1 weekend and got very good results. Been using Linux ever since. I dual boot Ubuntu, Windows XP, and Vista Ultimate (POS). I got Ventrilo, Warcraft 3, and Diablo 2 running great with WINE. So my guess is that your ignorant. (Coming from someone who has used every Microsoft OS ever made).
Bonus: My CPU stays cooler now that Linux runs all the time (due to the fact it doesn't rape my CPU), I am not kidding. And I'm not an idiot. 9 degrees C cooler in idle. - StateTheObvious, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4What OS are you using? I installed a Netgear WG311T in Ubuntu. Plug and play like everything else. (Well, except the NVidia drivers. I did have to get those from the application manager. I was so disappointed. I had to click my mouse TWICE...TWICE to make it work!)
- eclectro, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4I am using a Brother HL-5250N laser printer with Linux. Brother's support of Linux was the primary decision for purchasing this (and another) laser printer.
- brianary, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4Nope. Installing Windows always means I have to boot into Ubuntu and download the damn Windows network drivers, then go hunting for all the other drivers, which are not included or out of date.
- Disease, on 10/10/2007, -1/+5Dugg down because everyone else is doing it.
- buddyw, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4It doesn't take 45 min. I have done this a million times - very easy. three .deb packages and you can print and scan across the network.
btw, the windows driver package are about 100 MB larger and take about twice as long to download and install. - voyvf, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3Huzzah for grammar!
- sheldonl, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3Actually, the brother drivers are hideous and they haven't gotten much better over the last couple of years. If you want a printer that works well, buy epson or HP.
- Zonbu108, on 10/10/2007, -5/+8Hurray!!!!!
- Gavagai80, on 10/10/2007, -1/+4Because everything I actually want to do is quicker in linux than windows. Time savings and ease of maintence were major factors which swayed me. Of course it's not the same for everyone -- if I played a lot of games, for example, I'd rather use Windows than mess with WINE.
Of course if you buy incompatible hardware and come up with odd ways of doing things you can make things as hard as you want. Your choice. It's like people who complain installations are difficult because they try to compile stuff from source. - burty89, on 10/10/2007, -2/+5OK, here goes: WTF???
- goffy59, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3I don't think you know how Linux works exactly. Windowsblinds or style xp are very limited slight modifications of the GUI. It still uses the default windows program. I'm new to Linux, but I've seen a lot of different Desktop/window managers that are all different, but offer the same thing. With windows blinds, its ALWAYS the same thing. Unless you use something like LITESTEP, your still stuck with explorer.exe.
As much as he seems rude about his support on windows, and me being a loyal windows xp user, I can easily say Linux is more powerful and more customizable. My Xserver crashed, and I was able to repair it without using a GUI. On windows it doesn't work without the GUI and the recovery console is EXTREMELY limited. When you boot into safe mode with command prompt it still uses a GUI. With Linux your able to do many things without the GUI, almost anything you can do on a GUI can be done in the terminal. I've been using ubuntu and I'm new to it but StateTheObvious is absolutely correct! - burty89, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3Does nobody read? I highly doubt you can get your printer/scanner setup to print on a local machine in windows within 2 minutes, that'd be pushing it at the very least. More realistically, you'd need to go find the driver on the manufacturers site or on a CD, install it, then more than likely you'd need to reboot. After that, you can print/scan locally, not over a network as the comment you're referring to mentions.
Compare this with Ubuntu Gutsy, which took about 10 seconds from me switching on my Epson Stylus D68 to pop up a little notification stating that it was ready to print, with no interaction from me at all.
I know setting up a printer over a network in windows is not terribly hard in windows, but its definitely no harder in Linux (at least in Ubuntu & openSuSE). As for scanning over a network, is that even possible in windows? Forgive my ignorance on scanning as I've never tried it over a network on either platform. - Spr0k3t, on 10/10/2007, -1/+4@bias: You really should at least try to use Linux before you start to bash at it like it's second nature. Every bit of Linux can be customized to suit your needs. Much of what you find in Windows is kept under lock and key of the registry unless you know where to find it. What you mention above is extremely easy (fonts, icons, video drivers) with any modern distribution; There is very little involved with the end user. You should also re-read doodlebumm's response... he has outlined very clearly where the hardware support is greater in Linux than in Windows; it seems obvious you are too blind to see it without having someone point it out to you.
FUD: "...pay by wasting the time that you should be working or playing to read and learn to use an OS that you can't do your work on..."
That would apply to any OS for a new computer user... not just Linux. An extremely good example if you will; ask any seasoned MS Office power user their honest opinions of the new ribbon interface. I don't think the power users were able to find everything they wanted the first ten to twenty times they used the new interface. Granted that's a generalization, but it seems the overall tone and mood proving my point. Hell, took me over twenty minutes just to find the damn insert column break function... and even then I never found it, just used the 2003 hotkeys.
My point is, everything has a learning curve. How long did it take for you to figure out why you should use Add/Remove Programs... or what the System Event Logs were used for. What about the Group Policy Editor and how to effectively lock down your computer system? You can't say a new user is going to know these things without reading... and reading takes time. Time, as you say, is money. So the free up front cost is still free in the long run when you compare the two in the same light... not just generalizing "every new computer user is a windows user".
Next. - srg13, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3On my PC, I had to install the network driver, graphics driver, sound card, printer, scanner, but with Linux they are all supported out of the box.
And just because there are drivers written by manufacturers doesn't mean they are any good. The printer/scanner software is a 300 meg download (seriously), and installs a whole lot of really useless software, which if I remove, stops the scanner from working... - msgyrd, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3I have an HP F380 all in one, like $60 at Wal-Mart, $12 refills. As of Feisty, just plug it in and confirm that it autodetected it correctly.
- voyvf, on 10/10/2007, -1/+4@bias - that's a lot of FUD you're spewing.
especially since you're forgetting to mention the effect that forced (and paid) upgrades have on the total cost of ownership of Windows. - frontporsche, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2... plus the cost of another system, the effort of setting it up and maintaining it, the extra power consumed, just for a printer?
- nybble41, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2Furthermore, not all Linux drivers are Linux Kernel drivers. Printer drivers tend to be user-level programs, not kernel modules. They interact with the hardware through a generic USB or Legacy Line Printer (Parallel Port) kernel module compatible with nearly all printers, supported or otherwise.
- StateTheObvious, on 10/10/2007, -3/+5At least I get to choose how my OS appears, operates etc. Better than being told by Gates what I want. But thats just me. I never was a very good sheep :P
I dont like my desktop...I just change it. I dont like my windows manager, I change it. Try that in Winblowz! - inactive, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2 ...But...where is the drivers my Hauppauge (CX23418 based) tv card? I'm been waiting for the longest time for them.
- Bicep, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2Hooray for Brother!!! I just submitted a nice comment to them at: http://www.brother-usa.com/AskUs/default.aspx
Also, I have a Brother MFC-8600 Multi-function printer/fax/copier and it works perfectly well without modificatian in fedora core Linux on one of my home machines.
Brother is awesome!!! Buy Brother!!!
Shannon VanWagner - AnarkeIncarnate, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2I do. It is one of the best workstation/desktop OSes out there. I have tried ubuntu and found it lacking, plus what I learn in dealing with OpenSUSE translates to the SLES boxes I have at work
-
Show 51 - 100 of 125 discussions
© Digg Inc. 2009
— Content created and posted by Digg users is