2 ms·

So keep a supported USB wifi dongle with your Trisquel flash drive. These things can be had for ~$10 new on ebay, it's a total non-issue.

AdmiralAsshat 8y ago
> it's a total non-issue Finding a wifi dongle with a free driver is more difficult than you give it credit for. While testing out Trisquel, I sought to do exactly this. Turns out, the best resource we've got for checking wifi card compatibility with free software is here: https://h-node.org/wifi/catalogue/en https://h-node.org/wifi/catalogue/en So I settled on a TP-Link N150, which supposedly uses an Atheros chipset and a free driver [0], and is easily found on Amazon. [1] Should be all good, right? Oops! The newest revision of that adaptor uses a Realtek driver instead of an Atheros driver, so no more FOSS driver.[2] Your only option then is to order a specialized one from ThinkPenguin at a generous markup, which the average user is probably not going to know or think to do.[3] It's also not helping my sales pitch to prospective Trisquel users: "Please ignore the wifi card that your laptop came with and that every other OS supports, and shell out an additional 20 bucks so that your Free Operating System can actually use wifi. To end the story, I returned the Amazon adaptor and never bought a proper one that worked: I just switched my Trisquel testing to a laptop that had an ethernet port. [0] https://h-node.org/wifi/view/en/357/Atheros-Communications-Inc--AR9271-802-11n/1/1/undef/undef/undef/undef/wifi-works/n150 https://h-node.org/wifi/view/en/357/Atheros-Communications-I... [1]https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002SZEOLG/ref=oh_aui_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002SZEOLG/ref=oh_aui_sear... [2]https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/RDCADVGT5FXLM/ref=cm_cr_dp_d_rvw_ttl?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B002SZEOLG https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/RDCADVGT5FXLM/ref... [3]https://www.thinkpenguin.com/gnu-linux/penguin-wireless-n-usb-adapter-gnu-linux-tpe-n150usb https://www.thinkpenguin.com/gnu-linux/penguin-wireless-n-us...
- newnewpdro 8y ago
  If you're actually planning to continue doing this with this particular distribution it would behoove you to locate and acquire a small cache of relatively cheap, supported wifi dongles. The cost is so small it makes no sense when you're already investing significant time on this. Offer to sell them the supported dongle at cost if they're super into what you're demonstrating. You'll probably find yourself profiting a little accidentally when they volunteer to pay you more for your time now that a transaction is happening. I don't think it's a good idea to send them off to find supported hardware on their own, people are justifiably anxious about buying potentially incompatible computer components - but when you have it in front of them plugged in and demonstrably functioning it's a completely different story.
  - AdmiralAsshat 8y ago
    Keep in mind I'm not shilling for Trisquel--I could just as easily push Ubuntu or Mint if I cared enough to reformat the flash drive on my membership card. The demo usually comes up organically if someone mentions that they're either frustrated with Windows or that they have an old computer/laptop kicking around that's too slow to run anything modern--that's when I tend to say, "Oh, let me see--maybe I can breathe some new life into it." With that said, the membership card takes a trivial amount of space in my wallet, so I don't exactly have to "plan" to pull it out. Keeping a FOSS-approved wifi dongle in my pocket at all times on the off-chance I might need to show it off would be slightly more burdensome.

AdmiralAsshat 8y ago

> it's a total non-issue Finding a wifi dongle with a free driver is more difficult than you give it credit for. While testing out Trisquel, I sought to do exactly this. Turns out, the best resource we've got for checking wifi card compatibility with free software is here: https://h-node.org/wifi/catalogue/en https://h-node.org/wifi/catalogue/en So I settled on a TP-Link N150, which supposedly uses an Atheros chipset and a free driver [0], and is easily found on Amazon. [1] Should be all good, right? Oops! The newest revision of that adaptor uses a Realtek driver instead of an Atheros driver, so no more FOSS driver.[2] Your only option then is to order a specialized one from ThinkPenguin at a generous markup, which the average user is probably not going to know or think to do.[3] It's also not helping my sales pitch to prospective Trisquel users: "Please ignore the wifi card that your laptop came with and that every other OS supports, and shell out an additional 20 bucks so that your Free Operating System can actually use wifi. To end the story, I returned the Amazon adaptor and never bought a proper one that worked: I just switched my Trisquel testing to a laptop that had an ethernet port. [0] https://h-node.org/wifi/view/en/357/Atheros-Communications-Inc--AR9271-802-11n/1/1/undef/undef/undef/undef/wifi-works/n150 https://h-node.org/wifi/view/en/357/Atheros-Communications-I... [1]https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002SZEOLG/ref=oh_aui_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002SZEOLG/ref=oh_aui_sear... [2]https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/RDCADVGT5FXLM/ref=cm_cr_dp_d_rvw_ttl?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B002SZEOLG https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/RDCADVGT5FXLM/ref... [3]https://www.thinkpenguin.com/gnu-linux/penguin-wireless-n-usb-adapter-gnu-linux-tpe-n150usb https://www.thinkpenguin.com/gnu-linux/penguin-wireless-n-us...

newnewpdro 8y ago
If you're actually planning to continue doing this with this particular distribution it would behoove you to locate and acquire a small cache of relatively cheap, supported wifi dongles. The cost is so small it makes no sense when you're already investing significant time on this. Offer to sell them the supported dongle at cost if they're super into what you're demonstrating. You'll probably find yourself profiting a little accidentally when they volunteer to pay you more for your time now that a transaction is happening. I don't think it's a good idea to send them off to find supported hardware on their own, people are justifiably anxious about buying potentially incompatible computer components - but when you have it in front of them plugged in and demonstrably functioning it's a completely different story.
- AdmiralAsshat 8y ago
  Keep in mind I'm not shilling for Trisquel--I could just as easily push Ubuntu or Mint if I cared enough to reformat the flash drive on my membership card. The demo usually comes up organically if someone mentions that they're either frustrated with Windows or that they have an old computer/laptop kicking around that's too slow to run anything modern--that's when I tend to say, "Oh, let me see--maybe I can breathe some new life into it." With that said, the membership card takes a trivial amount of space in my wallet, so I don't exactly have to "plan" to pull it out. Keeping a FOSS-approved wifi dongle in my pocket at all times on the off-chance I might need to show it off would be slightly more burdensome.