HCL Considered Harmfull [Re: Fedora HCL guide writers?]

[Patrick Barnes]

George Ganoe wrote:

> Stuart Ellis wrote:
>
>> On Sun, 2005-06-05 at 11:55 -0500, Tommy Reynolds wrote:
>> On Thu, 2 Jun 2005 10:50:49 -0700 Chidananda Jayakeerti
>>
>>> <ajchida at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>
>> I do not think that having an HCL will be a good idea for Fedora.
>>
>> <snip>
>>
>>> Fedora now includes an Installation Guide and Release Notes that
>>> describe the minimal hardware configuration, in generic terms.
>>
>>
>>
>> I definitely agree with Tommy that attempting a HCL would be a bad idea.
>> Thinking about it, perhaps the problem itself has changed over the years
>> too - these days the install process will probably complete on any
>> common Intel-compatible hardware, so the question is no longer "can I
>> install Linux on this machine ?", but "will I need to carry out extra
>> steps afterwards to get some functions to work ?"
>>
>> I also agree that getting specific information on particular makes and
>> models is best done by Googling. Perhaps we can usefully make some
>> general statements in the Release Notes, though ? For example, when I
>> install Fedora on a laptop it's almost a certainty that neither the
>> modem nor the wireless card will work, and ACPI is unlikely as well, but
>> our existing documentation doesn't really acknowledge this, or provide
>> positive guidance as to how to go about finding solutions.
>>
>>
>
> While I agree that taking on the task of an HCL is a monumental
> job, as a five year Red Hat/Fedora user, I believe it would be
> a tremendous service to the user community to have a HIL (Hardware
> Incompatibility List). Many times I hesitate to buy new hardware
> because I can't find information about what models will work with
> my OS, and it is a daunting job to even begin the task of finding
> out. A list of things to stay away from would be a great help.
>
>
> George
>

I think an 'HIL' would suffer exactly the same problems and an HCL, just
from a different perspective. Anymore, such a list is really not even
necessary. Very, very little hardware still cannot be used with Linux.
Some older, proprietary, and rare hardware will not run, but overall
your odds are as good with Linux as they are with Windows. The only
concern is how much effort getting the hardware to run will take. An
HCL/HIL will not solve that, but Google queries work nicely to pull up
guides for most hardware. This will become even more of a moot point
going forward. At the moment, you have much better odds of hardware
working on a 64-bit Linux system than you do with a 64-bit Windows
system. Linux is not the niche OS it once was. The need for HCL/HIL's is
fading.

--
Patrick "The N-Man" Barnes
nman64 at n-man.com

www.n-man.com
--


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