How about installing new hardware AFTER system installation?

[hashimoto]

I was just about to start a new thread to rant/bemoan about the hardware
change issue so here are my fuzzy thoughts. 

I run into this change problem with my father's PC when he changed the
display to a LCD. Bad! All he could get was a screen saying "Display
mode not supported". He called me and said: "This dispaly doesn't work
in Ubuntu. I guess I got to return it."He was stuck. OK, he is 74 so I
forgive him even though he has been using computers since 80's when he
bought his first Apple Mac. But that is the key word: using. He has
never been interested in tweaking the system. He just needs it to run.

Now, it wasn't a big issue to me to run dpkg-reconfigure to change the
sync frequencies and get it up and running. But if a
not-so-knowledgeable user gets a blank screen after changing the
display, how does s/he know that the problem lies in the sync
frequencies?And even if he guesses, then how does s/he know
dpkg-reconfigure? 

If Ubuntu aims to be a conquer Windows users (as I understood) then
this kind of things need to be easier. Having to run CLI to make a new
display show something isn't going to help in conquering the standard
user base. It's darn too difficult and scary for "them". Some kind of
auto detection really is needed.

I could also say a word or two about the manuals, but maybe this was
enough already. That said, maybe I need to stop whining, give something
back to the community and start translating or something.

And BTW, would Kudzu do the job?


-- 
hashimoto