Linus Torvalds has released version 2.6.25 of the Linux kernel. "It's been long promised, but there it is now. Special thanks to Ingo who found and fixed a nasty-looking regression that turned out to not be a regression at all, but an old bug that just had not been triggering as reliably before."
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Member since:2006-03-23
Erhm, no.
If your soundcard is not working, then in ~99% of the cases, its because the user simply has not unmuted it and turned volume up.
in the last 1% of the cases, problems can be various things, but to assume that even 50% of those things are kernel related would be wrong, given that lots of configuration happens with alsa in userspace..
I'd go so far as to say that only 0.25% of all sound related issues are due to kernel space..
i'd also go as far as to say, that of all the PC's in the world today, which are not broken(not counting OS here), linux will work with _ALOT_ more of them, and directly out of the box, than is even possible to get working with XP. And if we count in vista aswell, well, thats not really much of a fight, now is it?
(yes, i have personally seen MANY older computers which has integrated audio that does not work for 2k/xp, only 98)
and then ofcourse also comes all the pieces of embedded devices out there.. ooh, i think winblows, in any version, is pretty much beaten.
Member since:2005-07-06
Member since:2006-06-03
I shouldn't bite, but I will.
1. If you're using a standard distro like ubuntu or fedora/redhat or such, then the likelihood is that your package manager will be able to find a pre-compiled kernel module for your hardware. So in 99.9% of cases, no compilation will be needed. In the Windows world, drivers are usually kernel modules too. [This is changing slowly, I know]
2. In the Windows world, it is the hardware manufacturer's responsibility to ensure that they distribute drivers. In the Linux world, it is usually left up to the community to maintain a working set of drivers. This will not change until Linux gains a significant market share [well, actually, it is changing as we speak]. So there are always going to be little problems, and issues.
3.
IIRC, Linux is the Operating System that supports the most Hardware. It beats Windows hands down, which considering that a lot of Linux driver development is done without full manufacturer support, is pretty remarkable.
4. So you reach a situation where your OS installation does not support X hardware.
If you were with Windows, or OSX, then this would be then end of the line for you. There is no realistic likelihood of being able to write your own device driver for it. The Windows DDK costs a LOT of money. And you're not likely to find community drivers.
With Linux however, you can search for kernel modules, recompile the kernel with extra support, write your own driver, call for a community effort to get your HW working.
The fact is that with Linux, you have far MORE options than with a closed OS. People shouldn't grumble when they try to do something that isn't possible on any other system and find themselved outside their comfort zone.
Member since:2005-07-06
Mr Linus is doing great job for linux community. But at some time he should realize there is lot of modern hardware exists besides his keyboard and compiler.
Mr Linus should share some responsibility for failure of linux systems compatibility on modern hardwares and come out with vision to integrate s/w and h/w.
Dear god, I get marked down to -4 after ranting over someone whining over the cost of a Mac, and this Nobel prize winner not only maintains his points but some numskull adds some to it!
Personally, the above sounds like nothing more than a variation of a FreeBSD rant or the usual rant put out on Slashdot of 'Linux is dying".
Oh, as for sound, I've yet to find a sound card not supported, and as for the digital camera, that has nothing to do with the kernel as it is sorted out by a user space library like libptp - assuming you has enough brain cells to ensure that the digital camera you purchased conforms to either PTP specifications or can mount as a mass storage device.
Member since:
2005-08-12
My Rant. I am not an expert but if my sound card is not working, I have to I have to compile and insert module in kernel or patch it. Not good for joe average user. Once kernel is installed there should be no need to do anything with it. But even on user friendly distros like *buntu Joe user encounter kernel tweaking. When was last time I heard about compiling windows kernel to set up my soundcard or digital camera??
Mr Linus is doing great job for linux community. But at some time he should realize there is lot of modern hardware exists besides his keyboard and compiler.
Mr Linus should share some responsibility for failure of linux systems compatibility on modern hardwares and come out with vision to integrate s/w and h/w.