Linux's Achilles Heel Apparently Revealed

ahab_2001 writes "In Information Week's latest 'Langa Letter', Fred Langa points to something that he calls Linux's 'Achilles' heel': 'New Linux distros still fail a task that Windows 95 -- yes, 95! -- easily handles, namely working with mainstream sound cards.' After lamenting his difficulties in getting a particular sound card to work with nine Linux distros, he concludes that his experience 'empirically shows that, despite its many good points, Linux still has some huge, gaping holes--holes that Windows plugged almost a decade ago.' (Oddball note: Information Week prefaced the e-mail alert pointing to this article by saying 'Occasionally, we have news or analysis of such importance that it warrants a special alert to you.' Hmm...)"

Comments

Re:Win95 sucks at sound

[DaHat]

This article is FUD.

Perhaps, but your comment is far worse.

I know you don't read the article...

[Kjella]

...but how about at least reading the summary? And that goes for moderators on crack too.

Kjella

Re:Oh my god!

[Dwonis]

Joe Blow also wants to operate a machine far more complex than an automobile without bothering to spend even as much effort as it took to learn how to drive.

At some point, giving a damn about what "Joe Blow" thinks becomes ridiculous.

Re:Huh...

[Conor Turton]

It's no record moment; it is (as-ever) a wake up call to the slashdot croud who perpetually fool themselves as to how good linux is. As this article highlights, failing to interact with such basic hardware as a sound card makes it unviable for mom & pop situations! How can you possibly expect people to have to try 9 different distros just for them to get the music working?

Err...Linux isn't Windows. Its a completely different OS. IT HAS ITS OWN HARDWARE COMPATIBILITY LIST!!!!

I'd love to know what the soundcard was because I've yet to find one that doesn't actually work including no-name onboard SiS and Realtek rubbish.

Oh and BTW, what happens when you install a soundcard not on Windows HCL and you can't find drivers? IT DOESN'T WORK.

Tom, you are a class idiot and a crap troll.

WHAT?

[Qbertino]

Vendors make more windows drivers than Linux drivers? I am absolutely over-f*cking welmed.

Heavens crickey, man. Get a grip. Are you shure you want to write about computer stuff?

And mentioning Win95 to rave about hardware support is so utterly silly it hurts. It's like showing the Amiga as a good use of grafics.
I suggest trying a Mac if you want out-of-the box multimedia support and 100% hardware compliance.
Otherwise I'd suggest you don't buy the hardware if the vendor doesn't offer drivers for your choice of OS. This is common sense. And this article displays a tad lack thereof.

Or maybe it's just the usual nowadays user who can't sort the various concepts out. It'll be interessting watching these people entering the Linux field. I recently met a hardware vendor who told me he wouldn't deal with Linux because Microsoft would buy Linux anyway anytime soon. I presume this article was written in a simular perception of things. Not that he was stupid, he just didn't know what he was talking about.
Linux advocates or computer savy in general are about to get more of this kind of crap as OSS becomes mainstream. I for my part am practicing in staying calm. Not that I always manage. QED.