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

[Patrick Barnes]

Tommy Reynolds wrote:

>Uttered George Ganoe <geoganoe at cox.net>, spake thus:
>
>
>
>>>>I do not think that having an HCL will be a good idea for Fedora.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>I definitely agree with Tommy that attempting a HCL would be a bad idea.
>>>
>>>
>>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.
>>
>>
>
>Yeah, I've carefully bought stuff that turned out to be a MicroSorft
>brick.  Tip: shop only where sales returns are not a hassle.
>
>Hmm... an "avoid like the plague" list might be helpful but it may
>also annoy folks (liability issues for lost revenue?).  This list,
>too, will probably prove to be rather volatile.
>
>But, what I would endorse would be a "Got Drivers?" list.  The Linux
>kernel ships with nearly 6 million lines of code: the kernel is about
>1.5 million and all the rest are those lovely device drivers.
>
>	Could somebody scan each of those drivers to see just what
>	the heck hardware they support?
>
>For some drivers, just looking through the kernel configuration help
>should be enough.  Others should have a simple table of PCI
>vendor/device code pairs.  Others will need a code audit.
>
>Herculean? Not really, because every one of those drivers has a
>author, or at least a maintainer, clearly listed.  We just need
>someone to bulldog down that list with a spate of emails.  Then make
>the "Got Drivers?" list from that.
>
>Any takers?
>
>Cheers
>
>

Yet again, we hit some of the same issues.  Support in the kernel is
always evolving, and sometimes things break.  This would prove equally
volatile.  Also, just because there is/isn't a driver in the kernel
doesn't necessarily mean that hardware will/won't work.  Additional
factors exist, such as modules not included with the kernel.  Also, when
considering hardware purchases, you can't effectively compare PCI data.
You would be better off spending your time writing guides for the pieces
of hardware that don't work out of the box.

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

www.n-man.com
--


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