And it is that exact reason why I believe Linux will NEVER gain a significant foothold in the consumer PC market. With PCs becoming more powerful and less expensive by the day, gaming is a factor that a lot of buyers take into account. Though Wine will work for some things, I have not had many great experiences with it. It could be said, though, that if Linux were to gain a great amount of game developer support, Windows is history.
1) Drivers work differently in windows and in Linux. Linux includes most drivers in the kernel.Installing a supported device is as easy as just plugging it in.2) MSFT does not release most of the drivers for Windows, the device manufacturers do. Very few of these manufacturers release drivers for Linux, so the Linux devs have to write drivers on their own. Where the device specs are available or it conforms to open standards, this is fairly straightforward. But when some manufacturers keep their device specs secret and include non-standard additions(designed to work only with Windows), the Linux community has to reverse-engineer them. This is time consuming and an imperfect solution, and often requires tweaks and workarounds, since the reverse engineering process is a lot like shooting in the dark. These drivers are often the ones difficult to install.3) Linux actually supports more hardware than any version of Windows. And where the drivers are open sourced by the manufacturer(eg: Intel), performance is often better than in Windows.So what I suggest is, when buying hardware, check whether a product is supported under Linux before you buy it. This will save you a lot of trouble, and will provide an incentive for the manufacturer to release the specs/ release drivers.
kisamaJan 23, 2009
jfgi, noob
aiganJan 23, 2009
And it is that exact reason why I believe Linux will NEVER gain a significant foothold in the consumer PC market. With PCs becoming more powerful and less expensive by the day, gaming is a factor that a lot of buyers take into account. Though Wine will work for some things, I have not had many great experiences with it. It could be said, though, that if Linux were to gain a great amount of game developer support, Windows is history.
Closed AccountJan 23, 2009
So you're saying that the difference between GIMP and Photoshop is GIMP requires you to learn how to code?
lingnoiJan 24, 2009
Yes, it's not the programs fault, we're all stupid.
Closed AccountJan 24, 2009
Yeah, because we all know that Linux is a magical OS that can handle any CPU / memory load, regardless of the hardware it's running on.
4dfxJan 24, 2009
Good, because those aren't exactly 'apps'...
balaknairJan 24, 2009
1) Drivers work differently in windows and in Linux. Linux includes most drivers in the kernel.Installing a supported device is as easy as just plugging it in.2) MSFT does not release most of the drivers for Windows, the device manufacturers do. Very few of these manufacturers release drivers for Linux, so the Linux devs have to write drivers on their own. Where the device specs are available or it conforms to open standards, this is fairly straightforward. But when some manufacturers keep their device specs secret and include non-standard additions(designed to work only with Windows), the Linux community has to reverse-engineer them. This is time consuming and an imperfect solution, and often requires tweaks and workarounds, since the reverse engineering process is a lot like shooting in the dark. These drivers are often the ones difficult to install.3) Linux actually supports more hardware than any version of Windows. And where the drivers are open sourced by the manufacturer(eg: Intel), performance is often better than in Windows.So what I suggest is, when buying hardware, check whether a product is supported under Linux before you buy it. This will save you a lot of trouble, and will provide an incentive for the manufacturer to release the specs/ release drivers.
Closed AccountJan 25, 2009
seamonkey...gimp....ill stick with ff and photoshop
spazefishJan 26, 2009
Uh Oh Latest linux firefox is so damn buggy with flash 10, I don't know if Adobe or Mozilla are at fault but it keeps on crashing
azathothhJan 26, 2009
yawn
njhardc0reJan 26, 2009
Way too many acronyms