What modems work with Ubuntu?

[Billy Verreynne (JW)]

Chanchao wrote:

>> Whose problem is it? Ubuntu's? Linux?
>
> Yes.  As it is always, for any hardware.  I don't like it either.
It's not Ubuntu's fault,
> but it IS it's problem. (Or the user's problem, rather)

Surely it is the manufacturer's problem? It is their hardware, right?
So why do they not provide their software driver with their hardware
driver? They do it for Windows, so why not for Linux?

Besides, expecting the Open Source community the support that hardware
is not fair. NDAs. IP. Being forced to reverse engineer at times. The
resulting driver may not only be severely hampered because of that, it
may even be -illegal-. And we all know (I hope) about the SCO
bandwagon and the damage it is attempting to do to Linux.

> You're confusing 'being at fault' with being a problem. If a user
cannot connect to the internet, you bet
> that's a problem. 

I see that as the user's fault. Ignorance.

Winmodem boxes and manuals -clearly- state operating systems that they
support. And Linux is _*not*_ listed.

Users must take responsibility for -their- purchasing decisions. After
all, you cannot claim ignorance and car manufacturer being at fault
when putting petrol in a diesel vehicle. So when running Linux, it is
the users' responsibility to ensure that they purchase compatible
hardware for their o/s at home.

If in doubt, ask the sales person. If that person cannot
satisfactorily answer, try it at home and if it does not work, return
it for a refund.

But implying that somehow Ubuntu/Linux should address this? That is
like saying that if you confuse a toaster for a PC at Walmart, Linux
should install on the toaster first, and then show a nice large
message (in a nice friendly font) that toasters are not supported.

>> Microsoft does not supply the driver. The h/w vendor does.  So why
>> then expect Linux (the o/s) to support the hardware when even
Windows
>> (the o/s) does not?
>
> Because users want to connect to the internet, and all they have is
softmodems.

Then they should decide whether they want to run Windows or Linux. It
is -their- decision. It is -their- hardware. It is -their- choice to
try and run Linux on a winmodem.

You buy a diesel vehicle and try and run on petrol? That is -your-
problem. Not the car's.

Do not blame others, or Linux/Ubuntu, for your ignorance about
winmodems' o/s requirements.

--
Billy


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