Linux-v-Windows (was Linux Upgrades)

On Jan 16, 2004, at 12:57 PM, Craig White wrote:

> there is a large amount of 'the devil you know is better than the devil
> you don't know' factored into this equation.
>
> Obviously Windows works for a large segment of the desktop computer
> market - and we can debate the hassle factor and the satisfaction
> factors.
>
> A person that is very knowledgable about one type of system should be
> able to make the other work without too much trouble.

My experience, and it's just one data point, is that Windows is indeed
more friendly to install on newer hardware than Red Hat. And I
certainly am *much* more comfortable around any kind of Unix like
thingee than I am with Windows. If fact if I hadn't had a copy of
Windows XP to load on the machine temporarily, I probably still
wouldn't have Linux installed. The fact is that neither Windows nor Red
Hat had the correct drivers for the graphics, sound or ethernet chips
on this new mobo but Windows still booted into some kind of GUI and
made a connection. From there it was easy to install the right drivers
off the "Divers & Utilities" disk that came with the computer.

Red Hat just wanted to black screen during the install.

Of course the worst horror of the Red Hat install was that after
spending the better part of a day looking for drivers for video, audio
and network interface I discovered quite by accident that the source
code for same was buried down in a folder on the CD with the windows
binary drivers.

My point is just that Windows is majority OS so this mobo maker had
gone to some length to make sure that Windows would install easily. The
board shipped with printed instructions but only for Windows users.
This maker was also actually pretty Linux friendly. At least they
provided the source code for drivers for all the devices. But the level
of sophistication expected of the Linux installer was way beyond what
was expected of the Windows person. This is fine so long as Linux is
used in the enterprise. I will have to be addressed before Linux is
ready for the consumer market.

Of course it will be addressed when Linux is popular enough so it's
sort of a chicken and egg situation.

BTW, I have seen situations where RH and other distros installed with
the click of a button, just not on cutting edge hardware.