[OT] EULA and legality

[Richard Gaskin]

Warren Samples wrote:
> Richmond, you must be aware that there are all kinds of hardware
> compatibility issues one has to consider when contemplating putting
> Linux on any computer.

Very true, Linux has to work harder than OS X or Windows because very 
few hardware vendors design their systems specifically for it.

Ironically, the most challenging OS install I ever attempted was trying 
to load a stock off-the-shelf copy of Vista onto a Dell Vostro 1400.

That Vostro originally shipped with Vista, but I bought it second-hand 
and the seller didn't have the restore disk.

Ah, the restore disk.  It's so easy to forget that manufacturers preload 
their restore disks with all the special drivers their components will 
need.

I've come to find that I'm not alone in having issues trying to use a 
stock Win CD on a PC.  Without the special drivers for that particular 
machine, it's a real gamble.

Given the combinatorial explosion of possible components, it's quite a 
marvel that Linux installs on a majority of computers flawlessly.

Even if some systems may require an additional download of a driver, 
it's safe to say that at least Ubuntu, Mint, and other major distros run 
out of the box on a much wider range of hardware than either OS X or 
Windows.


> It is also true that some of these issues have
> resulted in hostility directed at hardware vendors who aren't seen as
> friendly enough to the open-source community.

Hostility is of course inappropriate, but by no means OS-specific. 
Those of us who've been with the Mac for decades remember how vendors 
who stopped supporting Mac in the '90s were treated.  Fanboys come in 
all stripes.

Fortunately the only widespread disappointment with hardware in Linux 
lately has been with NVidia's Optimus technology, and at along last 
they've decided to support that on Linux:
<http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/261874/coming_soon_to_linux_nvidia_optimus_graphics_support.html>

Given the prevalence of Optimus on modern PCs, now that NVidia is 
supporting it on Linux we can expect the vendor hostility count to drop 
by more than half. :)

--
  Richard Gaskin
  Fourth World
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