Third-Party Vendors

If you ask me, Linux in it's own right is far superior to
any other OS in it's own right. No, I don't claim it's
without flaws. Nothing on this Earth at the present time
is flawless. But Linux is closest to it among Operating
Systems.

The real weakness Linux has to other operating systems is
not something in it's own self: but rather the stubborn
lack of support from third-party vendors.

For example, if you buy a new device (like a printer, a
scanner, or even a sound-card) chances are the device will
come with a CD-ROM, and on that CD-ROM will be the Windows
driver for the device and maybe a MacOS driver. It's very
unlikely, and as far as I know unheard-of, to find a
Linux driver on this CD-ROM.

The most any hardware vendor (and I mean even those who
pass themselves off as "friends" of Linux) will do is
release the information needed to write a driver for the
device. Though this may be helpful for the elite class
of people who know how to write device-drivers (a rather
specialized skill that even many experienced and *good*
**programmers** don't have) it really isn't helpful for
the average user. Why?

Because if you run Windows, and maybe if you run MacOS,
the driver for the device in question is released the
day the device is released, and released with the device.
The average Linux user however has to (a) wait for
someone to develop a driver in his/her free time (b)
wait for the driver to be released, and (c) included
on a distribution of Linux. Also, many users will want
to wait until (d) that distribution is confirmed "stable".
By this time, the hardware-company that distributes the
device will almost certainly have replaced the device
in question with it's successor.

Now, some of you might say that you only have to wait
till stage -b- to use a device: but since the device
driver is written by someone on his/her spare time
(instead of by the company that manufactured and is
supposed to support the device) there can be kinks in
the installation process: and the trouble-shooting
involved might be more than the poor end-user can
handle, forcing the end-user to wait until the
distributor takes care of that: thus re-affirming
the requirement of waiting for stages -c- and -d-.

Let's face it: it makes it really difficult when you
can't get any hardware that works with your OS of
choice unless you're willing to get it second-hand.
I, for example, don't think I can find *any* scanner
on the shelves at stores that will work with Linux.

I'd also like to see more Linux support from software
vendors. I know it's nice to have everything you need
free: whether you mean free as in speech or as in beer.
But when you have trouble finding a free program to
do what you need, it would be nice to be able to use
one of the commercial ones on Linux.

Take for instance Photoshop, PaintShop pro, and all
those others. Well, they *say* that Linux has GIMP
which eliminates the need for these. But in truth,
there are some crucial features missing from the
GIMP. For instance, the GIMP does not have text-layers.
True, there's a GIMP extention out there that's
*supposed* to *add* that ability: but I downloaded
that extention and guess what: it didn't compile.

And then there's some ISPs who's tech-support people
won't even *talk* to you if you're using Linux.

To make a long story short: the biggest disvantage
to using Linux (and the only one that would IMHO be
a reason to even *consider* an OS *other* than Linux)
is the sheer lack of support from the industry to those
who use Linux.

If you agree with me, I'm setting up a Yahoo group
for this purpose. Check out out at:
    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/linux-advocacy/

     Thanks,
          Adam