Coercing users is *never* a good idea
Coercing users is *never* a good idea
Posted Jun 8, 2006 19:35 UTC (Thu) by bronson (subscriber, #4806)In reply to: Coercing users is *never* a good idea by bjanz
Parent article: Putting a lid on USB power
Hardware is cheap, folks. Much cheaper than a damaged reputation.
That's right! So buy a $5.00 wall wart. Corrupted data causes farm more damage to reputation than the ability to run hardware outside of specification... doesn't it?
Posted Jun 8, 2006 21:36 UTC (Thu)
by bjanz (guest, #1560)
[Link] (1 responses)
You're missing the point. Someone who is running a device under MS Windows will question *and then abandon* Linux if the same device does *not* run under Linux.
If I buy a $5.00 WalMart cheap POS adapter, it'd blow up my system whether I was running MS Windows *or* Linux -- and I deserve what I get. But, if I buy a Logitech mouse or keyboard, or a SanDisk USB drive, or some other USB 2.0 "bus powered" device that is properly made and meets the USB 2.0 spec (like a Western Digital 120GB drive), and they *DON'T* work under Linux... that's a *very bad* thing.
This isn't about plugging in crap components. It's about compatibility. The only way to get new users comfortable with Linux is to provide *MORE* compability with existing devices -- not *LESS*. The way to keep "marginal" Linux users from migrating to other platforms (such as FreeBSD, or - Lord help us - Windows) is to be *BETTER* than the other platforms.
I opened my comments by saying that standards are a good thing. I'll even say that operating hardware according to standards is an even better thing. Protecting your system from unpredictable power events is an *excellent* thing.
But, a *backward* move in compatibility - "less" is NOT "more" - will only be seen as a *bad* thing.
Posted Jun 9, 2006 21:22 UTC (Fri)
by Pedja (guest, #37794)
[Link]
If I understand corectly, kernel disables out-of-spec devices.So, how
"That's right! So buy a $5.00 wall wart. Corrupted data causes farm more damage to reputation than the ability to run hardware outside of specification... doesn't it?"Coercing users is *never* a good idea
"But, if I buy a Logitech mouse or keyboard, or a SanDisk USB drive, or some other USB 2.0 "bus powered" device that is properly made and meets the USB 2.0 spec (like a Western Digital 120GB drive), and they *DON'T* work under Linux... that's a *very bad* thing."Coercing users is *never* a good idea
can that WD 120GB drive, or any other properly made, by-the-specs, device
not work under Linux?
IMHO, this is a GoodThing[tm].
Why would Linux support badly made hardware?