[99864] in RedHat Linux List
Re: "Winmodems" (Support in Linux)
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Aaron Clow)
Tue Nov 17 11:29:01 1998
Date: Tue, 17 Nov 1998 16:27:09 +0000
From: Aaron Clow <aaronc@cmj.com>
To: redhat-list@redhat.com
Resent-From: redhat-list@redhat.com
Reply-To: redhat-list@redhat.com
Ramon Gandia replied to Aaron Clow :
> Aaron Clow wrote:
>
> >> Looks like I'll have
> >> to get another modem, which kind of goes against the "cash-strapped" philosophy
>
> >> of Linux where you make a decent computer from old parts...
> >>
> >> I hate external modems as well...don't want anything sitting on top of my
> >> computer but my Atari Portfolio PC Card drive!! 8)
>
> >>>Well, I *have* to jump on this one! First and most important of all, Linux is
> NOT a "Cheap" operating
> system. It is a high-quality, leading-edge system. It is deserving of the best
> hardware you can provide it with. Unlike other O/S's, Linux runs on Alpha, Mips,
> Sparc, Intel, PPC, 68K, etc.<<<
D'oh! Sorry about being a little rash in my statements... I was NOT meaning to
disparage Linux in any way... And yes, I often spend quite a bit of money in order
to run Linux on our servers at work (dual processor all-SCSI machines and so
forth)...
However, what I meant by "cash-strapped" philosophy was referring to the revival of
older machines that have suddenly been reborn because of open-source software. For
example, I have a business on the side of my regular job and needed to set up a
website for it. We had a whole bunch of 486's sitting in our computer lab, so I
asked my boss if I could snag one on a temporary basis to set up a website off our
T1. He said sure, so now I have this little old IBM 486/25 with 16MB of RAM running
FreeBSD and Apache... The thing runs very sweetly...
Linux didn't support my onboard SCSI at home (Adaptec AHA3940), and my computer was
all SCSI... Hence, I had to go out and buy an IDE CD-ROM (when I already had a
SCSI CD-R and CD-ROM), as well as another hard drive... I had all 5 PCI slots
filled, so getting another SCSI card wasn't an option...
I guess I was just fed up with actually having to buy MORE equipment for my home
computer so I could run Linux on it. I am NOT looking forward to spending more cash
on a new modem when I already have a 33.6 that runs fine in Windows. Plus, if I'm
going to be spending cash on more computer equipment, I'd rather get a new G200 to
replace my AGP Millenium II than spend the same amount on a new external modem...
I guess I was just a little ticked off at myself for buying a winmodem and I took it
out on Linux! 8)
Didn't mean to offend...
> >>>Second, Linux development is via the internet. Any bugs get reported and
> corrected. It is this feature that allows Linux to run on older computers 386 and
> up. However, if you do that, you get 386
> performance.<<<
Understood... But 386 performance with FreeBSD and 386 performance with WindowsNT
are two very different performance levels!!!
> >>>No Linux developer intends their product to be run on a computer thrown
> together out of cheap parts. If you do that, you are going to get what you
> deserve. Some things, like WinModems, really do
> not deserve development time.<<<
No offense, but who are you to determine that? I'd love to see a poll on this... I
understand the philosophy, but the point is that there are many people in my
position... Who bought Winmodems before they started using Linux, and now they have
to go out and buy a new modem in order to use it in Linux...
> >>>My advice is: Use an external modem and then you are SURE it is going to
> work. Hehehehe: provided you know the init string! That can be another can of
> worms.<<<
Not to mention it uses up another serial port., which I cannot spare... So I guess
I'm SOOL....
Aaron
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