>From: Bob Stia <rnr@sanctum.com>
>Reply-To: slug@nks.net
>To: slug@nks.net
>Subject: Re: [SLUG] Cheap'n good laptops for Linux
>Date: Tue, 14 Nov 2006 02:11:28 -0500
>
>Don,
>
>I replied because I felt that you could be influenced by a very biased
>and "purist" opinion and I felt I needed to correct that bias. Probably
>the greatest majority of Linux users, of all distros, use Nvidia because
>everything "just works".
>
>Yes, Nvidia is proprietary, but, unlike ATI, it provides the latest and
>greatest drivers available, including 3D for free. What part of FREE
>don't we understand?
>
>You are also free to choose whatever videocard you want. I just did not
>want you to be wrongly and negatively influenced by seemingly
>authoritive FUD.
>
>Bob S.
Bob,
While you are welcome to disagree with me, I do think it is a bit extreme to
call my advice "purist" and "very biased". You make it sound as if I have no
ground to stand upon. Allow me to further clarify my suggestion.
Laptops are, by design, notoriously difficult if not impossible to upgrade,
RAM and HDD not withstanding. This situation is much more different than
that of a desktop where a user can simply install an alternative to onboard
sound, video, network, or other device should a Linux distro fail to have
adequate support for a it. It is unfortunate that such situations do still
exist but that is the case. In fact, just yesterday I replaced a SATA HDD
with an IDE HDD for a customer who was having trouble installing Fedora on
the new PC he bought from the computer shop where I work because the SATA
chipset was not recognized by Fedora's kernel. The customer was new to Linux
and needed minimal fuss so the easiest route was to use alternative hardware
to make his install painless. This type of situation becomes entirely
different when dealing with a laptop.
Because Don seems to want a laptop that will offer him a positive experience
with Linux, and because laptops are by their nature little bundles of
chipsets that are largely immutable, I though I would offer some insight
about my experience using various video chipsets with Linux should that be
of interest to him. No (legal) Linux distro will install a binary NVIDIA
driver out-of-the-box so going the NVIDIA route and expecting 3D support is
by far the most complicated (and possibly immoral depending on Don's
viewpoint) option compared to other video chipsets that will offer him 3D
hardware acceleration with free (read liberty) drivers that are installed
automatically. Of course the choice is his to make but it is a decision that
he is now in a better position to consider.
As for freedom, allow me to illustrate NVIDIA's concern for their customer's
ability to securely and efficiently run the hardware that said customers
(mistakenly?) assume they have the right to use. Owners of video cards which
utilize the TNT, TNT2, TNT Ultra, GeForce, and GeForce2 chipsets are out of
luck when it comes to further updates (security or otherwise) from NVIDIA.
They can forget their cards being able to take advantage of new
architectural designs in Xorg 7.1 and Xorg releases that have yet to come.
These users are even unable to pay third-party developers to backport
feature upgrades or security fixes for their video cards because NVIDIA
keeps the specifications of these chipsets a secret. These users are
entirely dependent on NVIDIA's goodwill to decide the lifespan (barring
hardware failure) of products said users own.
But hey, NVIDIA provides drivers at no cost. Who doesn't like to wear a
complimentary harness?
Jonathon
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