PCMCIA wireless cards....\'just works\'?

[Jeff Vian]

On Sun, 2004-12-19 at 13:46 -0500, Ryan D'Baisse wrote:
> On Sun, 19 Dec 2004 08:48:37 -0800 (PST), Joel Jaeggli
> <joelja at darkwing.uoregon.edu> wrote:
> > 
> > That strikes me as a little lazy. To my mind the comparativly minor2
> > inconvenience of rebuilding the mad-wifi source rpm when you install a new
> > kernel rpm is worth it to unlock the potential of an atheros a/b/g card.
> > 
> 
> I wouldn't  necessarily classify him as lazy.  Many of us who are
> coming to Linux from other operating systems have an ingrained belief
> that if the OS can handle something by default that it must be better.
>  And while I understand that it is common for people in the Linux
> world to recompile kernels and hack away at config files to get
> something working, I would opt for a solution where it "just works." 
> Being able to plug a card in and have it recognized gives a sense,
> albeit potentially false, of all things being good and the likelihood
> of a problem being reduced.
> 
> Just my $0.198376646.
> 
> R/S
> Ryan
> 
I would agree with you except for one very important factor.
ALL hardware manufacturers write their drivers for Windows.
FEW hardware manufacturers write (closed source) drivers for Linux
Even FEWER write (open source) drivers that can be easily used in Linux.

Ndiswrapper and Lucent's driverloader are 2 tools used to allow a
windows hardware driver to be used with Linux, and in my experience both
seem to work well (although they are not able to use many of the
capabilities of the hardware).

The real issue is that we (everyone using Linux) need to pressure the
hardware manufacturer to support Linux for their hardware "out of the
box".

If we vote with our $$ and support those that support us, then we _can_
make a difference and as the market for Linux grows, so does the effect
of our $$ votes.

The OP with his request for hardware that is supported native in Linux
seems interested in this type of vote.  I don't classify him as lazy
either, just smart.

Jeff