[SLUG] Can I assume all my peripherals can be made to work

[Jamie Adams]

On Mon, 25 Oct 2004 14:57:05 -0400 (EDT), john at johnallsopp.co.uk
<john at johnallsopp.co.uk> wrote:
> Hi
> 
> My graphics card or monitor died today, and given that W98 died too, I'm
> erring on the side of taking the plunge into Linux as my day to day
> machine. There's no point spending lots of time setting up a W98 machine
> is there?

Most definitely not!

> Can I assume that my peripherals can be made to work .. 
> scanner

Hmm. maybe. Check here: http://www.sane-project.org
Scanners used to be really badly supported however I don't think it's
as bad now. My Cannon scanner worked perfectly.

> printer

Almost definitely. To be sure, you can check here: http://www.cups.org

> new monitor, graphics card, digital camera, CD writer, Zip disc, sound
> card, anon.

You could possibly have problems with your digital camera, but it's
not likely. Most cameras are supported out of the box via the kernels
own usb-storage module, but to be sure check here:
http://www.teaser.fr/~hfiguiere/linux/digicam.html

> 
> It doesn't look like any manufacturer says "hey, we have a Linux driver
> for this", so is it just assumed that some bright spark will have written
> one, or should I be being more choosy?

That's usually the case, or it's supported directly by the kernel.

Have fun!
Jamie