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> This is not, for the record, "working out of the box". I have no doubt that some other distros would work just fine without any changes, you're nitpicking.

by xaduha 8y ago

no-such-address 8y ago
Ha ha very funny. Yes, just try a lot of other distros until you find one that works, maybe.
- xaduha 8y ago
  Point is that you don't need to, you can make any distro work. "Working out of the box" for Linux doesn't have the same meaning as for Windows. If you're a buying a custom motherboard for an old notebook that's nothing.
  - chronolitus 8y ago
    I love linux but damn, way to shift the goalposts. edit: Does any one else feel that redefining "working out of the box" to mean the opposite "just for linux", hurts linux's reputation more than just saying something non-hyperbolic, like it "works with a surprisingly minimal amount of driver treasure-hunt"? As a tangent, I wonder if this applies to other things. if BMW users tell you "when talking about BMWs the term low-maintenance refers to not having your engine explode every 10k miles. With that in mind, BMWs are very low-maintenance", are you less likely to buy one than if they say "well there's a little more required maintenance than some other manufacturers, but as long as you do it the car is very reliable."?
    - xaduha 8y ago
      Linux isn't just one thing. In a parallel universe he used a different distro and didn't have any issues. That says nothing about whether or not this piece of hardware is a good purchase or how good it is supported in general.
saagarjha 8y ago
I am yet to see a distribution that works out-of-the-box on a wide variety of hardware like Windows does. Sure, there are some distributions that generally work on most hardware, or some laptops that are “optimized for Linux”, but none of these come close to general hardware compatibility.
- SmellyGeekBoy 8y ago
  You've genuinely never had to install any drivers or change any settings after installing Windows? I find this very hard to believe.
  - saagarjha 8y ago
    For printers and external accessories, maybe? My experience with laptops has always been that every built-in component works with no configuration, which isn’t true for Linux. However, I haven’t bought a Windows laptop for quite a while, so maybe this situation is no longer true?
    - scooble 8y ago
      > However, I haven’t bought a Windows laptop for quite a while Are you talking about buying a laptop with windows pre-installed, or installing windows on a barebones laptop? I doubt that a laptop with linux preinstalled from e.g. dell requires you to install drivers. It's been a while since I did a barebones windows install, but I would be surprised if no drivers were required.
    - OJFord 8y ago
      > My experience with laptops has always been that every built-in component works with no configuration, which isn’t true for Linux. Are you talking about laptops that shipped with Linux though? I suspect not. You'd have about as much fun putting macOS on a laptop that shipped with Windows, and vice versa, as you would putting Linux on either of them.
      - saagarjha 8y ago

> This is not, for the record, "working out of the box". I have no doubt that some other distros would work just fine without any changes, you're nitpicking.

by xaduha 8y ago

> This is not, for the record, "working out of the box". I have no doubt that some other distros would work just fine without any changes, you're nitpicking.

no-such-address 8y ago

Ha ha very funny. Yes, just try a lot of other distros until you find one that works, maybe.

xaduha 8y ago
Point is that you don't need to, you can make any distro work. "Working out of the box" for Linux doesn't have the same meaning as for Windows. If you're a buying a custom motherboard for an old notebook that's nothing.
- chronolitus 8y ago
  I love linux but damn, way to shift the goalposts. edit: Does any one else feel that redefining "working out of the box" to mean the opposite "just for linux", hurts linux's reputation more than just saying something non-hyperbolic, like it "works with a surprisingly minimal amount of driver treasure-hunt"? As a tangent, I wonder if this applies to other things. if BMW users tell you "when talking about BMWs the term low-maintenance refers to not having your engine explode every 10k miles. With that in mind, BMWs are very low-maintenance", are you less likely to buy one than if they say "well there's a little more required maintenance than some other manufacturers, but as long as you do it the car is very reliable."?
  - xaduha 8y ago
    Linux isn't just one thing. In a parallel universe he used a different distro and didn't have any issues. That says nothing about whether or not this piece of hardware is a good purchase or how good it is supported in general.

saagarjha 8y ago

I am yet to see a distribution that works out-of-the-box on a wide variety of hardware like Windows does. Sure, there are some distributions that generally work on most hardware, or some laptops that are “optimized for Linux”, but none of these come close to general hardware compatibility.

SmellyGeekBoy 8y ago
You've genuinely never had to install any drivers or change any settings after installing Windows? I find this very hard to believe.
- saagarjha 8y ago
  For printers and external accessories, maybe? My experience with laptops has always been that every built-in component works with no configuration, which isn’t true for Linux. However, I haven’t bought a Windows laptop for quite a while, so maybe this situation is no longer true?
  - scooble 8y ago
    > However, I haven’t bought a Windows laptop for quite a while Are you talking about buying a laptop with windows pre-installed, or installing windows on a barebones laptop? I doubt that a laptop with linux preinstalled from e.g. dell requires you to install drivers. It's been a while since I did a barebones windows install, but I would be surprised if no drivers were required.
  - OJFord 8y ago
    > My experience with laptops has always been that every built-in component works with no configuration, which isn’t true for Linux. Are you talking about laptops that shipped with Linux though? I suspect not. You'd have about as much fun putting macOS on a laptop that shipped with Windows, and vice versa, as you would putting Linux on either of them.
    - saagarjha 8y ago