[TriLUG] ___ at mindspring.com____--more installer thoughts

al johson alfjon at mindspring.com
Thu Nov 1 04:57:24 EST 2001


Well the real question I have is this: why did Mandrake 7.1 automagically
identify and beautifully install my "old ISA internal modem" but Mandrake
8.0 didn't, esp. when no hardware changes were made?? You would think that
if an earlier edition could do this certainly a later one would be able to
do it too!! And the situation doesn't get any better for PCI modems since
virtually all of them require Windows to run!! Yes, I tried isapnp and
frankly I wasn't impressed. I should add that the ISA modem (which by the
way I can't use anymore because MS probably bribed the motherboard
manufacturers to eliminate ISA so that you could only use PCI internal
modems!!--:-) I had would allow you to manually set the IRQ etc. thus
negating the plug and play ( If you think about it PNP is just another of MS
attempts to make everyone use their OS--Plug and Pray was definitely the
operative word for this piece of junk. If you can't figure out how to move a
few switches or jumpers on a card, are you really intelligent enough to even
use a computer??).
     I also don't understand why the Linux loaders wouldn't  give you the
option of  telling Linux what hardware you have and where it is located,
with that info it should be duck soup for any operating system to install
hardware or at least give you a message saying WHY the OS is unable to
install said hardware, e.g. "sorry this hardware cannot be installed on
LINUX at this particular time. We suggest you purchase another device which
will work with LINUX".
   I especially don't understand what the DEFAULT permission for accessing
and burning a CD-RW is set for only Root use. How is a hacker going to be
able to use a CD-RW to cause mischief, e.g. how would he be able to put a
blank CD-RW in the slot?? This causes yet another problem for newbie users
because in order to use their CD-RW they have to learn how to set
permissions on a device, which is definitely not something for beginners.
But an good installer could sense that a CDRW is being installed and put in
a simple routine to change this permission if the user so desired (maybe
some users would still like to reserve use to ROOT!!).  These are just a few
of the "annoyances" that I've noticed in Linux, which are not specific to
either Mandrake or RedHat. They really can't be called "defects", because
they can be easily fixed, BUT ONLY IF YOU KNOW WHAT YOU'RE DOING, which is
the real problem because if you don't you can destroy all your work in a
heartbeat learning how to change permissions. There just needs to be some
thinking about what an ordinary desktop should look like right after
installation--what things need to be set to what, etc. Then it becomes duck
soup to write the installer so that you finally get there preferably one way
or another. Moreover, it would be nice for the installer to tell a user what
he/she can do if a particular piece of hardware is not recognized and
installed.
----- Original Message -----
From: Sinner from the Prairy <sinner_prairy at hotmail.com>
To: <trilug at trilug.org>
Sent: Wednesday, October 31, 2001 9:46 AM
Subject: Re: [TriLUG] ___ at mindspring.com____


> >From: "al johson" <alfjon at mindspring.com>
>
>
> >automatically. However, Mandrake 8.0--didn't even recognize it??? Now I
> >have
>
> Probably because fewer and fewer MoBos have ISA slots these days. And ISA
> detection is known to freeze installers.
>
> Then, they graciously let you do it by yourself with the good'ole ISApnp
> tools.
>
> >Modems (even Winmodems!!) can be installed on Linux.
>
> For Winmodems under Linux, you can always test your luck at
>
> http://www.linmodems.org
>
> They have the resources about Winmodems running on Linux. If it isn't
there,
> it ain't nowhere.
>
> And also check IBM web, because they have somehow developed a "Linux
driver"
> for the Winmodem shipped with their Txx laptops. So, part of the $1
billion
> went to winmodem porting. Cool
>
>
> And Amazon going to Linux is a very Good Thing. Go RedHat!
>
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