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

[Gavin Baker]

On Mon, 2004-10-25 at 14:57 -0400, john at johnallsopp.co.uk wrote:

> Can I assume that my peripherals can be made to work .. scanner, printer,
> new monitor, graphics card, digital camera, CD writer, Zip disc, sound
> card, anon.

Most things will just work fine. But check these for iffy devices

Scanner    -> http://www.sane-project.org/lists/sane-mfgs-cvs.html
Camera     -> http://www.gphoto.org/proj/libgphoto2/support.php

Linuxprinting.org maintains a list of 'supported' printers. But check
turboprint.de out too if you want 'perfect' photo prints.

If your camera is fairly new, then linux will just mount it as an scsi
device.

A lot of manufacturers, like intel, 3ware, promise etc, write their own
opensource drivers, which are already included in current kernels. 

Other companies just provide specs/api details so other people can write
good drivers, which end up in the kernel. Others make their own secret
linux drivers which you have to get from some website.

(kinda unrelated) Grepping for email addresses in a current kernel
changelog, shows contributions from people @ dell, ibm, novell, hitachi,
qlogic, sgi, intel, nec, adaptec, cyclades, hp, nokia, microgate, and
lots more. Thats in the last week or two.

The kernel has drivers for almost everything. The only problems I have
had, have been with toy devices. Like my old serial port mp3 player :)

Regards,
Gav