[99870] in RedHat Linux List
Re: "Winmodems" (Support in Linux)
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Aaron Clow)
Tue Nov 17 11:43:43 1998
Date: Tue, 17 Nov 1998 16:41:59 +0000
From: Aaron Clow <aaronc@cmj.com>
To: redhat-list@redhat.com
Resent-From: redhat-list@redhat.com
Reply-To: redhat-list@redhat.com
Ken Archer wrote:
> >>>Why is it that we profess to be promoters of Linux for the masses, but then
> advocate things that make it difficult for windows users to migrate to Linux.
> Windows users are the masses. Most of them buy a new buget-priced computer with
> a winmodem installed. Once they try Linux and try to log onto the net they find
> out they made a mistake and we never hear from them again. I think a Linux
> driver for winmodems is a great idea, but then, at my age, I am not much of a
> idealistic purist. Personally, I wouldn't have a winmodem, but it sure would
> have been nice to have a winmodem driver the first time I tried to use
> ppp. You will find my advice is worth just about what you had to pay for it
> :-)<<<
Ken, It's nice to hear someone a little more sympathetic... I didn't buy a
Packard-Bell at the local CompUSA... I put my computer together from the
motherboard up and STILL made the mistake of buying a Winmodem... I thought surely
that was the one area I could skim on. A modem is a modem is a modem, right? Ugh...
I put together a screaming all-SCSI Windows system and then a few months after it I
started looking at BeOS and Linux and FreeBSD and found out very quickly that I was
basically going to have to put together a whole new computer if I wanted to run
Linux (no support for my Millenium II AGP at the time, no support for my onboard
Adaptec AHA-3940AUW, no support for my Gina multitrack sound card). So what did I
do? I said forget it. I started playing at work with a more supported system. My
Linux installation at home hasn't been touched in months. Hell, I can't download
updates anyway because of my Winmodem. Someday I'll get a regular modem, when I
free up my serial ports or free up a PCI slot. Until then, my Windows audio/video
workstation (and gaming machine) stays intact. If I had been a more casual computer
user, I probably wouldn't have given Linux another look when I found out so much of
my system was not supported.
Not to mention the huge learning curve it takes to go from an embedded
client/server OS like Win98 to a true client/server OS like Linux.
Someone SERIOUSLY needs to make a "migrating from Windows to Linux" book, with
explanations about the similarities (conceptually speaking) and differences between
the OS and quick-guides to finding your way around, installing applications,
tweaking your UI, etc. I haven't seen anything out there like that. The closest
thing I found was SAMS "Teach yourself Linux in 24 hours."
Hee hee... right... I got everything installed just like they said, and when I
tried to run X Windows, no dice. There was no explanation in the book why this
would've happened, so I was left on my own. The book moved on while I sat with a
black screen in front of me. I was left to my own to figure out what happened.
Aaron
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