4 ms·

It's 2023, do people still have driver issues on Linux? Last I had to worry about that was when Ubuntu was <10.xx. It works well on random machines IME for the

It's 2023, do people still have driver issues on Linux? Last I had to worry about that was when Ubuntu was <10.xx. It works well on random machines IME for the last two decades almost. (Admittedly, I've done well by staying away from nvidia)

dagw 4y ago
2022 I spent several days trying to get Ubuntu to run stably without tearing on an AMD Ryzen APU.
- StrangeATractor 4y ago
  It Works For Me!™ Seriously though, compatibility issues seem the exception to the rule nowadays. Getting wifi or display drivers working used to be...challenging, if not traumatizing. You could put that shit on your resume nowadays. "I set up X11 with native resolution and got WiFi working most of the time in 2003 without damaging hardware."
beebeepka 4y ago
Some WiFi drivers are still not mainlined, so yeah, depending on the exact model, a brand new laptop may not have WiFi, regardless of distribution. I just bought one like that. It sucks. All I have to do now is rebuild the driver after an update. "No Biggie"
Gordonjcp 4y ago
> It's 2023, do people still have driver issues on Linux? Almost nobody. Most manufacturers have come to the conclusion that if they're going to dick about with special proprietary drivers, they can expect to sell a handful of their product compared to one that is just normal. No-one wants a webcam that uses a special super-sekrit magic driver that has to be downloaded from some sketchy website. They want to plug it in and wave to granny, or join their Teams call. Thus, the special super-sekrit proprietary crap got evolved out of existence.
GNUfanaticism 4y ago
I can't speak for laptops, but I strongly doubt any claims about drivers on desktop GNU/Linux. It's a common talking point but I believe it is mostly parroting. Anything I have plugged into my PC for the past few years has worked right out of the box. Installing Nvidia drivers is a common complaint, but it has never been more than an apt/pacman/xbps-install away for me.
AnonCoward42 4y ago
It depends. With new hardware you're bound to have some trouble especially on "old" Linux versions (i.e. using Ubuntu 22.04), however these issues are very often fixed by installing a newer kernel. YMMV
piyush_soni 4y ago
I do. We don't use Ubuntu / Fedora. We use the stone-age RHEL/CentOS distros. AND we have NVidia drivers to worry about almost everyday. And all our work-arounds go away as soon as IT updates the Linux Kernel. That never happens on Windows machines. It's such a PIA, among other problems that of-course our IT doesn't have any knowledge of, so we have to find the solutions ourselves.
samuell 4y ago
I do, on Debian 11 XFCE. - I can't connect my Sony Xperia 10 II mobile via USB cord to transfer files. Debian won't recognize it as a mass storage device. - Can't connect to my wife's ancient Samsung ML-1640 laser printer. Both of the above work in Ubuntu 20.04 LTS, but not Debian 11 XFCE.

dagw 4y ago

2022 I spent several days trying to get Ubuntu to run stably without tearing on an AMD Ryzen APU.

StrangeATractor 4y ago
It Works For Me!™ Seriously though, compatibility issues seem the exception to the rule nowadays. Getting wifi or display drivers working used to be...challenging, if not traumatizing. You could put that shit on your resume nowadays. "I set up X11 with native resolution and got WiFi working most of the time in 2003 without damaging hardware."

beebeepka 4y ago

Some WiFi drivers are still not mainlined, so yeah, depending on the exact model, a brand new laptop may not have WiFi, regardless of distribution. I just bought one like that. It sucks. All I have to do now is rebuild the driver after an update. "No Biggie"

Gordonjcp 4y ago

> It's 2023, do people still have driver issues on Linux? Almost nobody. Most manufacturers have come to the conclusion that if they're going to dick about with special proprietary drivers, they can expect to sell a handful of their product compared to one that is just normal. No-one wants a webcam that uses a special super-sekrit magic driver that has to be downloaded from some sketchy website. They want to plug it in and wave to granny, or join their Teams call. Thus, the special super-sekrit proprietary crap got evolved out of existence.

GNUfanaticism 4y ago

I can't speak for laptops, but I strongly doubt any claims about drivers on desktop GNU/Linux. It's a common talking point but I believe it is mostly parroting. Anything I have plugged into my PC for the past few years has worked right out of the box. Installing Nvidia drivers is a common complaint, but it has never been more than an apt/pacman/xbps-install away for me.

AnonCoward42 4y ago

It depends. With new hardware you're bound to have some trouble especially on "old" Linux versions (i.e. using Ubuntu 22.04), however these issues are very often fixed by installing a newer kernel. YMMV

piyush_soni 4y ago

I do. We don't use Ubuntu / Fedora. We use the stone-age RHEL/CentOS distros. AND we have NVidia drivers to worry about almost everyday. And all our work-arounds go away as soon as IT updates the Linux Kernel. That never happens on Windows machines. It's such a PIA, among other problems that of-course our IT doesn't have any knowledge of, so we have to find the solutions ourselves.

samuell 4y ago

I do, on Debian 11 XFCE. - I can't connect my Sony Xperia 10 II mobile via USB cord to transfer files. Debian won't recognize it as a mass storage device. - Can't connect to my wife's ancient Samsung ML-1640 laser printer. Both of the above work in Ubuntu 20.04 LTS, but not Debian 11 XFCE.