On 1/25/07, Herbert Graf wrote: > On Wed, 2007-01-24 at 15:27 +0000, Tamas Rudnai wrote: > > I am a Linux maniac, right? However, I would still say that Linux is not for > > an ordinary user. > > ... > > That's definitely not for Mr and Mrs Average User. > > I run linux, and I don't run a custom kernel. > > I believe you are approaching things the wrong way. You are trying to > get hardware to work with Linux. What you should be doing is buying > hardware BASED on it working on Linux. >custom kernel, just an install GUI and that's it. Yes this is the correct way but Mr and Mrs Average User will not know how to choose the correct hardware in the first place. Only when there is a critical mass of Linux user, the hardware vendors will provide the driver or the information to write a driver. > Now, is Linux ready for the "normal" user? Nope. It still is something > that sometimes needs tweaking at the command line, and that's > beyond the majority of the computing public. I believe command line is not a big problem. The hardware driver is a big problem. The incompability between different distributions is a big problem. > So, what do I recommend? Windows? Absolutely not. > > I recommend Macs. Yes, they are more expensive then they should be, yes, > I've never owned one, but heck, they sure are simple to get going. They > just work. They are limiting compared to Windows, but so what, most > computer uses don't use their computers for much more then word > processing, email and the web. > That is a very strange recommendation since you have never owned one Mac... I do not have a Mac. However, take a new PIC hobbyist, what can he do with a Mac? There is no MPLAB. He needs to build gputils and sdcc. Does gpsim work under a Mac? Does piklab works under a Mac? At least MPLAB/gputils/sdcc/gpsim work under Windows. I will say all Apple product are over-hyped. Windows XP is pretty solid if used wisely. Linux is also getting better and better. Mac will only be a niche player. And Apple has dropped the"computer" from its name. Just my opinion. Xiaofan -- http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive View/change your membership options at http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist