[Gllug] Whinge

[David Irvine]

Nix wrote:

>On Thu, 30 Aug 2001, will at hellacool.co.uk stipulated:
>
>>From: "David Damerell" <damerell at chiark.greenend.org.uk>
>>
>>>>and it *is* easier to add new hardware on windows especially for
>>>>novice users
>>>>
>>>This is demonstrably false. I am not a novice Windows user and I live
>>>with a professional Windows admin; yet my recent hardware change has
>>>not been adequately resolved after four hours work and may yet require
>>>reinstallation of the OS.
>>>
>>I don't see how it is demonstrably false.  When I have plugged kit into a
>>windows machine it has generally worked, a lot of the time without actually
>>having to install drivers.
>>
>
>I've had cases with Windows telling me that it has found three `Unknown
>Devices', and could I insert the driver disk for the `Unknown
>Device'. Even though it could have determined at least what *class* of
>device this is (so I'd have known whether to insert a graphics card,
>network card, or PIIX bridge driver disk, or something entirely else),
>it didn't bother; or if it did, it didn't tell me, and there was no way
>to coerce it to.
>
>You can't call *that* good UI design.
>
Supported devices in  linux are a  lot easier to install than supported 
devices in windows.  I've just installed 2 new network cards in order to 
allow the 'family' subnet to surf the net, one in my linux router, and 
another in a new workstation running win98, card was realtek8139 
 compatible.

Linux:


issue halt  command
remove case
plug in card
close case
press power button
10 seconds later, kudzu tells me its found new hardware
i press enter
it tells  me its found a realtek 8139  compatible network card, i agree 
and tell it to configure
it asks for an ip address, i give it one.
kudzu closes and i now have an up and running network card called eth3

Windows box:

shutdown
remove case
insert card
close case
reboot
windows finds new hardware
asks for a driver disk for network device
i insert floppy
it can't find it
i run setup.exe in floppy
extract drivers to c:\tmp\
find the device in system properties
click update driver
find the .inf file in c:\tmp
it tells  me its found the driver
i reboot
i set an ip address and netmask  and the like
i reboot
i change the smb  workgroup name
i reboot
it now works

Now, for a novice user especially in this instance it would be much 
easier in  linux, you dont have to arse around persuading it that the 
device is actually there  and reboot multiple times.

David





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