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--- "Brough, Tom" <Tom.Brough@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: > > These are just some of my thoughts on the subject of X > > Recently I have been contacted by potential users of Linux who have > taken > the first step towards using it by attempting to install distros of > their > PC's. I have installed many different distros, on many different > machines > ranging from 386 - Athlon 1.8GHz machines, although my primary > experience is > RedHat. For the most part I have been able to get X running without > resorting to having to download drivers and compile them. > > However these users have had problems which have required them to > download > and compile drivers, or have exhausted all their efforts / options in > terms > of configuration. Some of these user, while new to linux are very > "technically minded". I am very curious to know if other members of > the > group have had similar problems with getting X to work, or heard > similar > stories from new users, since this seems to be (IMO) an area that > would put > most "non-technical" people off and hence inhibit the potential > growth in > user base. Unfortunately we live in a world where if it aint pretty > it wont > sell. While I would agree with anyone that linux as a whole has many > advantages over other proprietary operating systems, if users cant > see the > GUI interface without serious configuration fiddling they will > abandon it > and go back to something else. > > Even to myself it seems a poor show if you need to download source, > compile > your own kernel and additional drivers in order to get a GUI > interface. Is > it just me, or are we complacent people who tell others to go and > Read The > Manual or say "well it works ok on my machine" ? Is there anything we > can do > to make X "smarter" ? Do we need to lobby Graphics Cards > Manufacturers ? Is > it time to admit that X configuration is a serious problem that > (while > improving) needs to be resolved ? > > I only ask these questions because while I know that linux is not > just about > GUI interfaces, to many users thats what they want, without any fuss. > > (constructive) comments please > > Tom > > Information in this message is confidential and may be legally > privileged. > It is the intended solely for the person ( or persons) to whom it is > addressed. If you are not the intended recipient, please notify the > sender, > and please delete the message from your system immediately. The views > in > this message are personal, they are not necessarily those of Torbay > Council. While i tend to agree in the most part, there have always been issues with installing, for example Windows 98se on a machine that has an nVidea gForce 2mx graphics card (my setup.. old setup.. ;-) ) it still needs the "user" to install the drivers... I have found that a lot of systems will work just find with the "vesa" drivers for X, some don't like it a huge ammount. Those that don't tend to work with the vga server. I just remember that all systems need the right drivers to access the hardware correctly. I do agree with your point about the non-graphical nature of the driver installation. but how else is it going to work ? Neil __________________________________________________ Yahoo! Plus For a better Internet experience http://www.yahoo.co.uk/btoffer -- The Mailing List for the Devon & Cornwall LUG Mail majordomo@xxxxxxxxxxxx with "unsubscribe list" in the message body to unsubscribe.