I mean accountability for the products you use on the system-while there are some hardware manufacturers who release drivers for Linux, the vast majority still do not.
You obviously don't understand the philosophy of free software.
Free software means you don't have to download drivers. It means that the source code for drivers are free (free as in freedom to modify and improve) and are handled by the community. (Note that "community" does not mean "non-commercial". Many commercial vendors are a part of the Linux community - some notable members are Dell, HP, IBM, Adaptec, Promise, Realtek, etc, etc)
Manufacturers don't release Linux drivers because they don't have to. They release a free specification of their hardware (free as in no stupid corporate NDA's). They can either release preliminary drivers or let the community take hold of the development.
In most circumstances, hardware that is reliable and conforms to IEEE and ISO standards will have good free drivers to match. Most of these drivers are built into the Linux kernel itself, and as such there is no need to download third-party drivers. In some rare instances companies refuse to open-source their drivers, and make it difficult for GNU/Linux developers to include these drivers freely. One such example is the Nidia GLX hardware-3D drivers for Xorg. The Linux community constantly waits on Nvidia to catch up with the rapid evolution of free software. And despite continual recommendation from the free software community (remembering again that this includes other corporates), Nvidia still do not open source their drivers.
Nvidia are one of a minority, however. Manufacturers such as Adaptec, HP, Dell, etc freely open their drivers with great success (both in reliability of the software, and sales success as users buy their products). I can load up my Linux desktop and plug in any HP printer, any Adaptec RAID card, any Realtek ethernet card, or load it up on any SATA motherboard and have full 100% automatic "out of the box" support for my hardware. Something that Windows won't allow. In fact, I often need to rely on archaic hardware such as floppy drives to install third-party non-certified drivers for my hardware when installing Windows. Very annoying.
So again: accountability is not a concern here. Device manufacturers have the choice of opening the specifications for their hardware (note that this DOES NOT mean they have to give away their hardware secrets - people who argue his don't know what they are talking about). Doing so lets millions of programmers world wide develop drivers quickly with international auditing, instead of small clunky teams developing driver with minimal audits.
People who are only used to doing things the "windows way" quite often don't understand the concept of open hardware specifications, and likewise struggle to understand the concept of an operating system that doesn't require third-party drivers.
The same goes for software. Try buying a manufactured PC from most major companies and then calling up to ask for warranty support after you install Linux.
I do frequently. I use plenty of commercial Linux software with full support. No complaints here.
Obviously you wouldn't buy Mac software and then try to load it under Windows and complain when the software manufacturer denied your support call. I've not ever understood people who buy Windows software, load it under Linux via emulation software like WINE, and then complain that they can't get support. That seems quite obvious to me. And again, I buy Linux-native software (of which there is plenty), and enjoy the benefits.
When your downloaded free version of Linux install goes tits up, who do you call for support?
The provider. Companies like RedHat, Ubuntu/Canonical, SuSE/Novell all provide commecial support plans for their distros. Some even include it for free for the first 30 days (SuSE does this for installation help).
Conversely, for a home user of Microsoft Windows, they are charged exhorbitant fees when they ring Microsoft for telephone helpdesk support.
It sounds to me very much like you've not actually used a commercial Linux distribution. Is that an incorrect statement to make? And if so, should you really be offering advise on software you've never used?
There is accountability in things like manufacturer warranties-if nothing else, there is a contract for them to provide support for a set period of time.
Again, plenty of distros provide full commercial support. And more notably, Microsoft themselves do not offer support by default with their desktop operating systems. In fact, ringing their helpdesk and asking for support immediately has the support person asking for your credit card details here in Australia. Scary stuff.
But honestly, past experience has taught me that arguing with Linux devotees is as positive an experience as arguing with Mac devotees-all different OSes have their place, much of the time one or two of them will truly shine in one area or the other-the time still has not come where anyone will convince me that Linux's place is on the average user's desktop, however.
Well, so far I haven't discounted Microsoft Windows. All I've said is that the fallacies you spew above are not correct, and that Linux has no more or less "accountability" (what a silly term to use in software) than Windows. Likewise neither one can really be accredited as being "better". They both do a task, and do it well. For me, the freedom that comes with Linux is of greater benefit and commercial usefulness to my day-to-day work than Windows. I can get more accomplished under Linux with less effort and less cost than under Windows. There's no emotion attached to this statement. After many years of using many software products, Linux has proven to be the most useful for the least outlay. This is a purely objective statement based on my personal experience only (and with it, the experience of the thousands of companies I have contracted to over the decades).
As for the average user - I started a project here in Australia that puts Linux on the average user's desktop. Thus far the project has been met with enormous success (tens of thousands of units shipped in just months - not bad considering our population here, and our single office presence). We are providing completely functional, internet-ready desktop computers that cost less than a single Windows license. These include full office suites (100% compatible with Microsoft's office filetypes), graphics editing suites (comparable to Photoshop costing thousands), and countless other desktop applications (far more than I've seen packaged with any other operating system past or present). All of this software is Linux-native, free for distribution and free of cost.
And who are the purchasors of these desktops? Well, so far the overwhelming groups have been average folk. Mum's and Dads, Pensioners, blue collars, white collars, businesses, students, kids and grandparents. All of them very happy with their very average Linux desktop that does very average tasks on very average hardware. A great many of them ask before purchasing if they can replace Linux with Windows. We say "Yes, of course you can - but how about you try Linux out for a few days?". So far our success rate is well over 95% of people who try it and stick with it. And of the 5% who do switch to Windows, most do so without trying the software first, and use unlicensed software to do it with. (I find this rediculous - if you are going to use non-free software, don't steal it for goodness sake! There are free alternatives available so that you do not have to break the law!!!).
The irony is that if Linux was the default in every business, everyone would use it. People are scared of change - petrified in fact. They will do everything at their disposal to avoid it. Tell your business leaders that they can save millions of dollars per year switching to an alternative OS (any alternative you can think of - there are dozens of other operating systems outside of Windows and Linux), and they'll make up every excuse under the sun not to. People fear change so much that they'll discount any valid alternative at any cost. "Better the devil you know" as the saying goes.
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Topic: Can't afford xp, should I try linux? (Read 10876 times)
