cheap ubuntu laptop with wireless that works right "out of the box".

[Derek Broughton]

Christopher Copeland wrote:

> 
> On 30 Jan 2008, at 09:02, Derek Broughton wrote:
> 
>> I see no reason at all that any manufacturer should be forced to
>> invest in
>> creating two drivers when ndiswrapper is a good working solution.
>> If using
>> ndiswrapper crippled the hardware it would be a different matter.
> 
> Then I think you need to look harder. While ndiswrapper is a
> commendable effort, I will always prefer a native driver.

Why?  It's a knee-jerk reaction of people who believe everything should be
open source.  Nobody _must_ open-source anything, and ndiswrapper is a
perfectly reasonable option.  It's revealing that you say _I_ need to "look
harder", but you have no argument other than "you don't like it".

> Often it is 
> not a question of asking (forcing?) a manufacturer to develop two
> drivers at their expense but rather to release enough information so
> the community can write the linux driver. 

Then it takes time for the linux community to develop the drivers _IF_
anybody even sees the need.  That's no way for a manufacturer to develop
sales: "Here's some hardware, and in six months you might actually be able
to use it..."

> I would say ndiswrapper is 
> great for those situations where you have no control over hardware
> choice.. but if possible it is best to support companies that play
> well with the linux community when spending your hard earned [insert
> local currency].

And, in what way, is selling hardware that works well in Linux with
ndiswrapper _not_ playing well with the community?
-- 
derek